The federal government awarded more than $53 million in contracts to human resources firm Morneau Shepell over the past seven years, according to a government response tabled in Parliament Monday evening.

Federal departments and agencies found 171 contracts — worth a total of $53,676,769.35, according to a count by iPolitics — when asked to provide all contracts with Morneau Shepell since January 2010.

The vast majority are claims for entire contracts, while others are charges under insurance contracts with Morneau Shepell. A handful of transactions — all with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) — involved money being returned to the government because of contracts being amended or cancelled.

The largest contract was a $2,864,278.97 bill for the Canada Border Services Agency’s employee assistance program.

NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice asked the departments for the information through a Parliamentary process known as an order paper question.

The contracts, which were awarded under both Conservative and Liberal governments, provide a sense of just how much work the human resources company provides for the government.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has been hounded by questions about whether he handled his connections with Morneau Shepell ethically when he entered politics. Morneau ran the company before being elected in November 2015 and held $20 million in shares in the firm when he became finance minister.

Morneau recently announced he had divested his shares in his former company after media reports revealed he had not followed through on a promise to do so.

Morneau also is supposed to respect a conflict-of-interest screen and delegate all decisions that would affect Morneau Shepell to his chief of staff.

The ethics screen was in place during the time these contracts were awarded and the Liberals were in power, Morneau spokesperson Dan Lauzon wrote in an email.

“The minister would not have been involved in any of these decisions,” wrote Lauzon.

Opposition parties have questioned the value of the ethics screen if it didn’t prevent Morneau from working on Bill C-27, which would change the way pensions are regulated.

Morneau Shepell issued a statement in late October saying the company had severed ties with Morneau once the latter entered politics and that C-27 would not have a material impact on the firm.

Contact James Munson at [email protected] or on Twitter at @james_munson.