Prime Minister Mark Carney says he will look into an expense program under which former governors general billed the government more than half a million dollars last year.

The program, which launched in 1979 and has been shrouded in secrecy, allows each former governor general to bill up to $206,040 per year, on top of their pensions. 

The government paid out $554,000 including taxes in reimbursements in the 2024-25 fiscal year to support five former governors general, Rideau Hall told CBC News. 

The Governor General’s office will not say who was reimbursed or what the money was spent on. Rideau Hall would only say that there are five living former governors general who can access the program.

Asked by CBC News about the program and if he would commit to more detailed public financial reporting like a past report urged, Carney said he was unaware of the details.

“I’ll look into it, ensure that … there’s adequate transparency around the expenses,” Carney said during at a news conference announcing Canada’s next governor general, Louise Arbour.

“I’ll just observe that the governor generals have served our country with distinction,” Carney said, adding that former governors general “continue to serve Canadians through their charitable and other foundation activities, for which I’m personally grateful, and I think all Canadians are as well.”

The expense program allows former representatives of the Crown in Canada to be reimbursed for expenses tied to their role for the rest of their lives, and up to six months following their death. The expenses must be tied to activities that resulted from their time at Rideau Hall. 

Trudeau ordered review in 2019

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau ordered an independent review of the program in 2019 amid transparency concerns and questions about its worth, appointing former federal bureaucrat turned consultant Alain Séguin to lead it.

Séguin warned in his report that the expense program hadn’t been reviewed or updated since it was created 40 years earlier, and lacked transparency. 

“While the program authority is an effective administrative document and has served well for over forty years, it has not been updated to reflect current public sector practices and public expectations concerning reporting and accountability,” Séguin wrote. 

Séguin’s report, released through access to information laws, found the federal government’s public reporting policy was “ill-suited for providing details and clarity” on the program. 

Former governor generals are only named in the government’s public accounts when they expense more than $100,000, but details about what the money was spent on aren’t disclosed.

Séguin’s report followed public outrage after the National Post reported in 2018 that former governor general Adrienne Clarkson had billed taxpayers more than $1.1 million since leaving Rideau Hall 13 years earlier. 

WATCH | Former governor general billed taxpayers more than $1 million since leaving the job:

Former governor general billed taxpayers over $1 million since leaving the job

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s governors general deserve continued financial support once they retire but they need to be more transparent and accountable for their expenses. This follows reports that Adrienne Clarkson, who was governor general from 1999 to 2005, has billed more than $1 million in expenses since leaving the job.

The 2019 report recommended the Governor General’s office publicly post on its website details about which former viceregals submitted expense claims, and what they were for. The report recommended the information be shared publicly, similarly to how MPs’ travel expenses are publicly disclosed online.

Séguin also recommended evaluating whether the support payments should end after a certain number of years.

Despite those recommendations, the secretary to the Governor General’s office confirmed to CBC News that “no changes have been made to date” to the public reporting.

The Trudeau government promised again to look into the program in 2021, amid public outrage that former governor general Julie Payette would have access to the six-figure expense account. 

WATCH | Chrystia Freeland on Payette’s expense account :

Payette’s access to expense account being reviewed: Freeland

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Julie Payette’s access to an expense account available to former governors general is ‘under careful consideration.’

Payette stepped down after an independent review into claims reported by CBC News that she had mistreated staff and presided over a toxic workplace. 

The Governor General’s office wouldn’t say whether Payette has been accessing the expense program since leaving office five years ago. On Tuesday, CBC News submitted a request through Rideau Hall asking Payette whether she has used the expense program, but has not yet received a response. 

Rideau Hall says former governors general must provide supporting documents when submitting claims for reimbursement, including original invoices and receipts. 

The Privy Council Office said it had nothing more to add than what Rideau Hall had already said on the matter.