Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I'm pleased to offer some factual context and McKinsey's perspective on its work for the Government of Canada.
I've been the managing partner of McKinsey Canada since September 2022. I have been with McKinsey for 28 years, working with Canada's business and civic leaders across a wide range of sectors. We've been active in Canada for over 50 years and have deep roots in this country. We serve two-thirds of Canada's leading companies across all sectors, work closely with leading civic and not-for-profit organizations, and employ 1,000 talented individuals, 90% of whom are proud Canadian citizens. They take the responsibility of serving our country and communities seriously and with immense care.
Our public sector engagements since 2011 are the primary focus of this committee. It is, therefore, critical to point out that the vast majority of those engagements were the result of publicly tendered, competitive requests for proposals. The proposals we made in response to these requests were independently evaluated and ultimately awarded by public servants based on objective, point-rated technical and pricing criteria. Most of the remaining contracts were awarded through a national master standing offer, with a small number of sole-sourced agreements by the public service. In all cases, it was open to the public service to procure services in these ways, pursuant to federal government requirements.
McKinsey contracts were awarded based on merit-based criteria used by the public service, not as a result of any relationship at any political level.
In the fiscal year ending two days from now, the Government of Canada will have spent approximately $25 billion on external consultants. McKinsey contracts represent less than 1% of the total spend. Again, McKinsey contracts represent less than 1% of the total amount spent by the government on external consultants.
The committee has rightly noted that the volume of our work, as well as the work of other consulting firms, has increased over the last number of years. As the committee heard from departmental officials, this increase is because the demands placed on the federal government have grown significantly, as has the complexity of the challenges faced by the federal government. McKinsey brings global skills and expertise that complement the public service and produce tangible results for Canadians.
As the committee heard from ministers and senior officials, our expertise is a valuable complement to the talents and efforts of the public service. For example, we brought world-class call centre and productivity improvements to Miramichi, New Brunswick, in order to support our public sector and dramatically increase their efficiency and overall productivity. This is something only a global firm can provide perspective on, and McKinsey has the expertise to do so. Our firm has tremendous regard for Canada's public servants and has always approached our work in a way that seeks to provide significant value to the government.
The committee has also focused on our firm's activities outside Canada. Like any large organization, we are not perfect. When we have made mistakes, we have learned from them and made changes. Over the last several years, our firm has made significant changes to our professional standards, client service policies and risk management. McKinsey is committed to meeting the highest ethical standards. We have been transparent about these changes. Information on these changes is available on McKinsey's global website and has been for several years.
We care deeply about the country. Importantly, we seek to do work where we know we can make a difference in the communities where we operate.
In closing, we obtained our contracts by responding to the needs of the public sector, we followed the rules, we did very good work and that work delivered value to Canadians.
I'm pleased to answer any questions the committee may have at this time.
Thank you.
