The U.S. watchdog has already saved billions by cutting waste. Ottawa should follow its lead before our debt gets even worse
Bloated bureaucracies and unchecked spending have long plagued modern governments. But in the United States, something remarkable is happening. A new agency, the Department of Governmental Efficiency—known as DOGE—was created to find and eliminate government waste. And it’s already delivering results. Canada should be paying attention.
There’s no shortage of controversy surrounding DOGE, and that’s to be expected. When long-standing inefficiencies are finally addressed, those who benefit most from the waste will always push back. But public criticism shouldn’t distract from the department’s impact. Government has become far too large, weighed down by costly programs, unnecessary contracts and outdated systems. It’s long past time for accountability.
A visit to DOGE.gov or their social feed on X reveals an agency moving fast. With a staff of nearly 100 and a toolkit of high-tech systems, DOGE is cutting through entrenched bureaucracy with surprising speed. And the same kinds of issues almost certainly exist in Canada, albeit scaled down by a factor of 10.
Take the U.S. National Science Foundation. On April 18, DOGE announced the cancellation of 402 diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) grants deemed non-essential, totalling $233 million. One of them was a $1-million project titled “Antiracist Teacher Leadership for Statewide Transformation.”
These aren’t symbolic gestures. DOGE is making concrete changes that save billions. For example:
- On April 15, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—the American equivalent of the Canada Revenue Agency—revealed $2 billion in savings by cancelling auto-renewed software licences that had gone unused for years.
- That same day, 470,000 unnecessary government credit card accounts—roughly 10 per cent of all active accounts—were shut down.
- The State Department cancelled 139 foreign aid grants, saving $215 million, including $1.4 million for a project called “Preventing Internet Fragmentation” in Brazil.
- A Department of Agriculture contract for an “Indonesia environmental policy and law enforcement specialist” was among 57 contracts cancelled, freeing up $1.5 billion.
This wasn’t limited to contracts—waste was embedded in everyday operations:
- The Environmental Protection Agency cancelled an $85,500 plant maintenance contract. From now on, staff will water their own plants.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs replaced a $3.9-million annual “salary survey” contract with a $5,000 alternative, saving more than $11 million across its original term.
Beyond spending cuts, DOGE is exposing structural weaknesses and vulnerabilities that invite fraud:
- On April 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which oversees federal health and social programs—was found to be issuing $700 million in daily grant payments without documentation, justification or receipts.
- On April 11, the U.S. General Services Administration secured a 71 per cent discount from Google on IT services—finally using federal purchasing power as intended.
- DOGE also uncovered $305 million in improper unemployment claims, including payouts to people over 115, under six or born 15 years in the future.
Fraud and poor data integrity were widespread. On March 31, DOGE announced that 9.9 million Social Security numbers tied to people over 120 had finally been marked deceased. Earlier in the month, the agency found more than $630 million in loans made to individuals aged 115 or under the age of 11 through the U.S. Small Business Administration. Verification systems are now in place.
In just four months, DOGE has saved U.S. taxpayers $170 billion—or $1,055.90 for each of the country’s 161 million federal taxpayers.
But it’s just a start. U.S. debt per capita hit $106,110 in March 2025, up from $85,552 in 2021. That’s a deep hole. Meanwhile, the federal government faces more than $20 billion in deferred maintenance on real estate. DOGE has already sold 13 buildings and listed another 68.
The lesson is simple: Government cannot keep doing things a certain way just because it always has. That path is not sustainable—not in the U.S. or Canada.
While Canada doesn’t yet have an equivalent to DOGE, the need is real. Although federal departments are audited, no single agency is empowered with the mandate and speed to seek out waste across the entire government proactively. In 2023, the federal auditor general flagged multiple areas of concern, including $15 billion in unused COVID-19 benefits paid out and an ongoing lack of financial controls in programs such as the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA). In 2022, more than 50,000 CEBA loans went to potentially ineligible businesses. CEBA, for context, issued government-backed loans to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada could benefit from a well-resourced, technologically equipped body tasked with rooting out inefficiency and exposing questionable spending across government. A Canadian version of DOGE wouldn’t just reduce waste—it could help rein in ballooning program costs and deliver better value for taxpayers.
It’s time to admit we need this. And it’s time to stop pretending the status quo is good enough. Canadians deserve transparency, efficiency and accountability—not just more spending.
Lee Harding is a research associate for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
