Top Canadian CEOs have already cashed in your 2023 salary

As of 9:43 a.m. Tuesday, Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs have already done what the average worker needs all year to earn.

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The CEOs of major Canadian companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange made an average of $14.3 million in 2021, according to a new report from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released Tuesday.

The 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada thus shattered the previous record of $11.8 million set in 2018, according to the document “Breakfast of Champions: 2021 CEO Pay Reaches an All-Time High.”

This represents a 31.2% increase from the $10.9 million median salary reported last year.

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The report reveals that the minimum wage for these CEOs also reached a record high of $6.7 million in 2021, compared to $6.1 million in 2020. This is double the minimum wage in 2018.

Moreover, the gap between CEOs’ wages and those of their workers has continued to widen: the wealthiest earn, on average, 243 times more than the average worker. “An all-time high,” according to economist and study author David MacDonald, who said the previous peak, in 2018, was 227 times higher.

If you measure [la rémunération] In time, at 9:43 a.m. on January 3, 2023, we estimate that the 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada have already achieved what the average worker would earn all year,” Mr. McDonald noted.

The report recommends certain policy measures to “address this income inequality”, including adding a wealth tax.

While 2021 has been an especially difficult year for many workers due to inflation, CEO pay doesn’t seem to have been shaken. “Inflation generates record profits, which leads to an increase in CEO compensation,” said the economist.

Along with earnings and salaries, CEO perks and stock option bonuses have also gone up.

Of the country’s 100 richest CEOs, only three are women, according to the report, which found that Canada’s glass ceiling remains “static” and that “there is no evidence that it is changing.”

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The highest-paid CEO in 2021 was Nuvei CEO Philip Phair, who earned just over $140 million in 2021, followed by GFL Environment CEO Patrick Duvegy, who earned more than $43 million in 2021. and CEO of Bausch Health Companies, which earned $28 million. in 2021.

Cameco Corp. CEO Tim Getzel takes the bottom spot after earning $6.7 million that year.