Fact Check: Did Prime Minister Trudeau take 680 vacation days since coming to power in 2015?
Social media posts stating Trudeau took 680 personal days in the last 8 years he has been prime minister, have been making the rounds in Canada. Many people are claiming that he has basically been on vacation for the equivalent of almost 2 years or 22 months.
But that’s not exactly true and there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
An analysis of Trudeau’s itineraries by the National Post found that 680 days have been listed as ‘personal,’ but the bulk of this, 462 days to be exact, consisted of weekend days. The remaining 218 days include federal holidays, sick days and vacation days.
In comparison, the average Canadian worker would be off for over 900 days in an 8 year period. So his personal days rate, which stands at 24% is well below the 34% of days in a year most Canadian workers are off.
His office maintains that Trudeau ‘routinely and regularly works on days listed ‘personal.’
Some Canadians have come to Trudeau’s defence on social media and said they believe he works more than the average Canadian and are asking people to remain fair in their criticism.
Video Transcript
Did Prime Minister Trudeau take 680 vacation days since coming to power in 2015? Social media posts stating that Trudeau took 680 personal days in the last eight years he has been prime minister have been making the rounds in Canada, with many people claiming that he has basically been on vacation for the equivalent of almost two years, or 22 months.
But that's not exactly true. And there's more to the story than meets the eye. An analysis of Trudeau's itineraries by the National Post found that 680 days were listed as personal, but the bulk of this, 462 days to be exact, consisted of weekend days. The remaining 218 days include federal holidays, sick days, which for everyone else in Canada would amount to 80 days over eight years, and then you have vacation days.
In comparison, the average Canadian worker would be off for over 900 days in an eight-year period. So his personal day rate, which stands at 24%, is well below the 34% of days in a year most Canadian workers are off. Plus, his office maintains that Trudeau routinely and regularly works on days listed as personal. They also said that he has been working every single day during the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, Russia's war in Ukraine, and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some Canadians have come to Trudeau's defense on social media and said that they believe he works more than the average Canadian and are asking people to remain fair in their criticism. How do you feel about this? Let us know in the comments, and follow us for more stories.
