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Summary
- What COVID? Top 100 Canadian CEOs made C$ 53,482 – the average Canadian’s salary – by 11:17 a.m. on January 4, the first working day of the year, reports the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
- Interestingly, the CEOs earned the same amount about an hour later than they did last year.
- Overall, Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs earned over 202 times more than what an average worker made in 2019.
By the time you’re done reading this article, Canada’s highest-paid Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have already netted more than the entire annual salary of an average worker by noon on January 4.
According to a new report by independent thinktank Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the top 100 CEOs will have made C$ 53,482 – the average Canadian’s salary – by 11:17 am on Monday, the first working day of 2021.
But here’s the fun fact. These head honchos earned the same amount about an hour later than they did last year.
In other words, the CEOs had to put in an extra-hour-work on January 4, 2021, explained the report’s lead author and CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald.
On the other hand, 2020 was rough year for average Canadians due to the pandemic and the accompanied job losses and debt accumulation.
Overall, Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs raked in over 202 times more than what an average worker earned in 2019. This is lower than the 2018 figures, when the CEOs made over 227 times the average income.
Over 1/3rd Top CEOs Received CEWS in 2020
As the pandemic hit our economies and markets in March 2020, Canada lost three million jobs. Though rehiring has picked up, the employment levels are nowhere near to what it was in February 2020.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic was harsh for everyone, says Mr Macdonald.
Sitting at the top of the income spectrum, Canada’s highest paid CEOs sailed the pandemic times “atop a golden cushion” boosted by massive rates of executive pay. Despite the massive layoffs, the CEOs bonuses continued uninterrupted.
These CEOs earned an average of C$ 10.8 million in 2019. The minimum pay among the top 100 CEOs was C$ 6.3 million.
When employees were laid off and the government offered support, 36 out of the top 100 CEOs on the S&P/TSX Composite applied for payroll support through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) in 2020.
Meanwhile, the staff made C$ 17 per hour or less.
Eliminating The Gaps
To tackle this wide gap, the CCPA report recommends removing executive tax benefits, such as the capital gains and stock option deductions.
It further advises to introduce new marginal tax rates on extreme incomes, similar to what Spain and the Netherlands did amid the pandemic. Both the countries made sure companies receiving COVID-related wage supports do not pay executive bonuses.
