OTTAWA -- It takes an average of seven civil servants to produce the YouTube videos used to promote Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to documents newly released in Parliament.

The response to an order paper question tabled by Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre shows the cost of producing dozens of YouTube videos from the Nov. 4 Trudeau government swearing-in to mid-May was $27,185.88. The Privy Council Office, which is staffed by non-partisan civil servants but supports the work of the political Prime Minister's Office, spent $6,255.62 on travel and accommodations to support the filming and producing of the YouTube videos.

The cost of the equipment, ranging from a $51 HDMI cable to a $49,883.64 editing system, totals $99,671.81, the records say. That includes software first purchased in 2000. The records also say the equipment is "not used solely to support the prime minister's YouTube accounts."

Poilievre also asked about overtime costs, which came to $1,864.62. That question may have been inspired by a story from Poilievre's time as employment minister, when the Globe and Mail reported he'd had civil servants work on a weekend to shoot a video of him promoting a Conservative government policy. The question Poilievre filed in the House is dated May 16, 2016, nearly a year to the day after the Globe and Mail story was published.

A spokesman from the Privy Council Office said none of the staff are solely dedicated to making the videos.

"It is important to understand that PCO staff have more responsibilities than simply creating videos. The Privy Council Office supports the Prime Minister in many ways, including managing the digital presence of the Prime Minister and maintaining the Prime Minister's website," Raymond Rivet said in a statement to CTV News.

"These costs are consistent with the previous year."

The documents detail the costs of shooting, transcribing, producing and closed-captioning the videos, which are posted to a channel dedicated to Trudeau on YouTube. Some of the videos are from events widely covered by the media, like Trudeau's March 10 remarks at the White House, while others are from smaller events like cultural celebrations.

Only 6,659 people subscribe to Trudeau's YouTube channel, with some of the videos drawing only a few hundred views. Two videos of Trudeau's remarks at the White House, for example, have been viewed a combined 690 times. That may be partly because it appears the videos were posted three days following the event. Trudeau's May 18 apology for the 1914 Komagatu Maru incident, in which Canada refused entry to a ship full of migrants from India, drew more than 10,000 views. It was posted the same day Trudeau made the apology.

The use of government resources to produce promotional videos for the prime minister has been controversial since former prime minister Stephen Harper started releasing a regular feature known as 24-7, which sometimes featured interviews with politicians who dodged journalists' requests. The Conservatives said no costs could be released for those videos since they were produced by staffers as part of their regular duties.