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OTTAWA — Canada’s budget watchdog is sticking by its $114,100 calculation of the cost of the average federal employee after the Treasury Board rejected the office’s findings and challenged the criteria used to determine the figure.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page’s recent study into the $43.8-billion the federal government spent on compensation last year estimated the average employee costs $114,100 a year with pensions and benefits rolled in. It based that calculation on a workforce of about 375,500 employees.

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But Treasury Board President Tony Clement challenged Page’s figures, arguing the study inflated the current and future per employee costs while low-balling the government’s expected savings from its ongoing spending reductions. He argued the average cost of a public servant is $95,000 based on a broader federal workforce of 420,000.

In a statement posted on its website, the PBO defended its calculations and explained they were based on annual compensation expenses and the number of total employees used in the Public Accounts, the government’s financial statements. The Public Accounts, which are audited by the Auditor-General, draws on financial transactions recorded by the Receiver-General and the detailed records kept by departments and agencies.