The refocusing of government spending, the $500 million in savings for the fiscal year that is ending this year, has $150 million coming from travel services and a reduction in travel expenditures. The remainder, $350 million, is expected to come from a reduction in consulting services. These amounts have already been frozen by the Treasury Board. Departments cannot access them.
We asked for details on these expenditures. We find that a significant portion of them will indeed be reductions in consulting services, but for some departments, there were no details provided. Because the reductions will come from general expenditures, it's difficult to be absolutely certain that the totality of the $350 million will be a reduction in consulting services.