Compensation for Canada’s top 100 CEOs reached levels in 2013 not seen prior to the global recession, according to a study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The left-leaning think tank found total payments — which include base salary, stock options and bonuses — averaged $9.2 million among the highest-paid CEOs in Canada during 2013.
“The last time CEO compensation was this high, Canada was at the peak, before the crash in 2007. That year, Canada’s highest paid 100 CEOs averaged $10 million,” the January 1 report said.
The CCPA examined the 2013 earnings of CEOs at the publicly listed Canadian companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange and found total compensation for the top 100 reached $921 million.
The highest-paid executives in B.C. include Goldcorp’s (TSX:G) Charles Jeannes, who made $10.2 million; Telus’ (TSX:T) Darren Entwistle, who made $10.1 million before leaving his position in May 2014; and Teck Resource’s (TSX:TCK.B) Donald Lindsay, who brought in $9.8 million.
Nationally, the top three highest-paid CEOs made more than double that of B.C.’s top-paid chief executives.
Onex’s (TSX:OCX) Gerry Schwartz made $87.9 million, Rogers Communications’ (TSX:RCI.B) Nadir Mohamed made $26.7 million and Agrium’s (TSX:AGU) Michael Wilson made $23.8 million.
The average Canadian, however, took home about $47,000 in salary in 2013.
The report noted in 1998 the top 100 CEOs’ average salary was 105 times more than the average Canadians, but by 2013 those earnings were 195 times greater.
“Despite the recession, the public outrage, the criticism of political leaders, and the devastating analyses of key business thinkers, the practice of compensating Canadian CEOs has not changed perceptibly since the global economic meltdown,” the report said.
“Economists will dispute the value of corporate taxes and higher taxes on CEO compensation to government revenues. But the equalizing effect of these taxes, the need to close the growing income gap between the Canada’s top earners and the rest of us, is valuable in its own right.”
