Gerry Schwartz, CEO of Onex. (Fred Lum/Globe and Mail/CP)
Being top dog means making top dollar.
The top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada now make, on average, $9.2 million—more than 190 times the average Canadian income of $47,358. And with Onex CEO Gerry Schwartz taking the number-one spot on the list this year with a total pay package of $87.9 million, many of our CEOs are paid many times more than that.
This list is assembled each year by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which does it to draw attention to the large and growing pay gap between CEOs and average employees.
We’ve written before about the dilemma of high CEO salaries, which is more complex than it might seem. The critique doesn’t only come from the left; there are plenty of hard-nosed investment firms that are agitating to clamp a lid on ever-growing CEO pay, arguing that it’s a poor use of shareholders’ money and distorts performance as CEOs start managing to their pay metrics instead of longer-term growth. And some companies are taking steps to at least measure the scope of pay inequality between the C-suite and the rank and file. For instance, RBC has begun to factor average employee pay into its CEO compensation strategy, although it’s still keeping the details under wraps.
Still, it’s clear that inflationary pressures are still at work. This year’s average take-home is up 16% over last year’s average of $7.9 million. First-place CEO Gerry Schwartz’s $87.9 million is tens of millions higher than last year’s first-place entrant, CP Rail CEO Hunter Harrison, who got $49 million (Harrison has dropped to No. 57 this year, at a below-average $7.2 million.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the payment mix, which still skews heavily toward “other”—non-salary payments such as cash bonuses, share and options awards, pension contributions and other compensation. You can see a more complete breakdown on the CCPA site.
Finally, note that the information in this ranking is not up-to-the-minute; it is compiled from information on fiscal 2013 so, for instance, BlackBerry CEO John Chen doesn’t even appear on this ranking, although his $88 million multiyear pay package would certainly place him near the top. And some of the CEOs on the list were new or retired during the course of the year, so their figures only reflect a partial count.
See your CEO on here? How does it compare to your last pay stub?
MORE ABOUT CEO SALARIES:
- A simple fix for CEO salaries
- Why comparing CEO pay to average incomes makes no sense
- How long it takes Canadian CEOs to make as much as most of us do in a year
- How Michelle de Cordova is persuading banks to close the CEO pay gap
- RBC is the first Canadian bank to weigh CEO pay against average employee salaries
Canada’s Top 100 Highest-Paid CEOs:
* “Other Compensation” includes bonuses, shares, options, pension and any other payments. Full details at CCPA.
| Rank | Name | Company | Base Salary | Other Compensation* | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerald W. Schwartz | Onex Corporation | $1,339,611 | $86,577,415 | $87,917,026 |
| 2 | Nadir Mohamed | Rogers Communications Inc. | $1,130,769 | $25,639,204 | $26,769,973 |
| 3 | Michael M. Wilson | Agrium Inc. | $1,507,200 | $22,311,540 | $23,818,740 |
| 4 | Donald J. Walker | Magna International Inc. | $334,903 | $19,222,697 | $19,557,600 |
| 5 | Steven K. Hudson (partial year) | Element Financial Corp | $660,000 | $18,205,028 | $18,865,028 |
| 6 | JR Shaw (Exec Chair) | Shaw Communications, Inc. | $1,500,000 | $15,880,532 | $17,380,532 |
| 7 | Robert Dépatie (partial year) | Quebecor Inc | $1,200,000 | $13,621,147 | $14,821,147 |
| 8 | Gordon M. Nixon | Royal Bank of Canada | $1,500,000 | $12,538,877 | $14,038,877 |
| 9 | Doug Suttles | Encana Corporation | $562,830 | $13,211,265 | $13,774,095 |
| 10 | Paul Colborne | Surge Energy Inc | - | $13,675,941 | $13,675,941 |
| 11 | Steven W. Williams | Suncor Energy Inc. | $1,291,346 | $11,710,384 | $13,001,730 |
| 12 | Bradley Nullmeyer (President) | Element Financial Corp | $548,000 | $12,397,984 | $12,945,984 |
| 13 | Scott Saxberg | Crescent Point Energy Corp. | $508,800 | $12,276,474 | $12,785,274 |
| 14 | Donald Guloien | Manulife Financial Corporation | $1,216,641 | $11,546,908 | $12,763,549 |
| 15 | Bradley Shaw (CEO) | Shaw Communications, Inc. | $2,500,000 | $9,926,854 | $12,426,854 |
| 16 | Mark Thierer | Catamaran Corporation | $1,030,470 | $11,393,965 | $12,424,435 |
| 17 | W.P. Buckley | ShawCor Ltd | $900,000 | $11,245,345 | $12,145,345 |
| 18 | Richard E. Waugh (partial year) | The Bank of Nova Scotia | $1,500,000 | $9,705,612 | $11,205,612 |
| 19 | R. Jeffrey Orr | Power Financial Corporation | $4,134,000 | $7,047,444 | $11,181,444 |
| 20 | George A. Cope | BCE Inc. | $1,400,000 | $9,563,448 | $10,963,448 |
| 21 | Peter Marrone | Yamana Gold, Inc. | $1,521,598 | $9,187,220 | $10,708,818 |
| 22 | Edmund Clark | The Toronto-Dominion Bank | $1,500,000 | $8,936,884 | $10,436,884 |
| 23 | Charles A. Jeannes | Goldcorp Inc. | $1,500,880 | $8,699,534 | $10,200,414 |
| 24 | Darren Entwistle | TELUS Corporation | $1,375,000 | $8,752,702 | $10,127,702 |
| 25 | Gerald T. McCaughey | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | $1,500,000 | $8,516,000 | $10,016,000 |
| 26 | Donald R. Lindsay | Teck Resources Limited | $1,450,000 | $8,439,974 | $9,889,974 |
| 27 | Geoffrey T. Martin | CCL Industries Inc | $864,483 | $8,766,413 | $9,630,896 |
| 28 | Harold N. Kvisle | Talisman Energy Inc. | $1,299,996 | $8,243,523 | $9,543,519 |
| 29 | William A. Downe | Bank of Montreal | $1,279,375 | $8,213,050 | $9,492,425 |
| 30 | Sean Boyd | Agnico Eagle Mines Limited | $1,500,000 | $7,896,170 | $9,396,170 |
| 31 | Steve W. Laut | Canadian Natural Resources Limited | $620,000 | $8,628,828 | $9,248,828 |
| 32 | Brian C. Ferguson | Cenovus Energy Inc. | $1,337,500 | $7,907,274 | $9,244,774 |
| 33 | Thorsten Heins | BlackBerry Limited | $999,973 | $8,056,039 | $9,056,012 |
| 34 | J. Paul Rollinson | Kinross Gold Corporation | $1,162,617 | $7,772,593 | $8,935,210 |
| 35 | Michael E. Roach | CGI Group, Inc. | $1,250,000 | $7,567,520 | $8,817,520 |
| 36 | Russell Girling | TransCanada Corp. | $1,300,008 | $7,400,001 | $8,700,009 |
| 37 | James C. Smith | Thomson Reuters Corporation | $1,597,229 | $6,858,576 | $8,455,805 |
| 38 | Dean A. Connor | Sun Life Financial Inc. | $988,462 | $7,414,650 | $8,403,112 |
| 39 | Craig H. Muhlhauser | Celestica Inc | $1,000,000 | $7,328,723 | $8,328,723 |
| 40 | Claude Mongeau | Canadian National Railway Company | $1,055,648 | $7,173,984 | $8,229,632 |
| 41 | Asim Ghosh | Husky Energy Inc. | $1,642,250 | $6,550,239 | $8,192,489 |
| 42 | Jamie C. Sokalsky | Barrick Gold Corporation | $1,400,677 | $6,572,028 | $7,972,705 |
| 43 | Miguel de la Campa (Exec. Co-Chair) | Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. | $995,118 | $6,959,680 | $7,954,798 |
| 44 | Alain Bouchard | Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. | $1,312,500 | $6,615,846 | $7,928,346 |
| 45 | Serafino Iacono (Exec. Co-Chair) | Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. | $995,118 | $6,925,436 | $7,920,554 |
| 46 | Ronald Pantin (CEO) | Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. | $995,118 | $6,918,861 | $7,913,979 |
| 47 | Jose Francisco Arata (President) | Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. | $946,288 | $6,939,563 | $7,885,851 |
| 48 | Paviter S. Binning | George Weston Limited | $1,000,000 | $6,885,668 | $7,885,668 |
| 49 | Calin Rovinescu | Air Canada | $1,400,000 | $6,417,369 | $7,817,369 |
| 50 | André Desmarais (Co-CEO) | Power Corporation of Canada | $1,100,000 | $6,639,900 | $7,739,900 |
| 51 | Paul Desmarais, Jr. (Co-CEO) | Power Corporation of Canada | $1,100,000 | $6,558,762 | $7,658,762 |
| 52 | Louis Vachon | National Bank of Canada | $1,000,009 | $6,618,494 | $7,618,503 |
| 53 | Pierre Karl Péladeau (partial year) | Quebecor Inc | $1,083,333 | $6,344,803 | $7,428,136 |
| 54 | Stephen G. Wetmore | Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. | $1,250,000 | $6,177,375 | $7,427,375 |
| 55 | Paul N. Wright | Eldorado Gold Corp. | $1,514,000 | $5,904,600 | $7,418,600 |
| 56 | J. Michael Pearson | Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. | $1,803,323 | $5,407,632 | $7,210,955 |
| 57 | E. Hunter Harrison | Canadian Pacific Railway Limited | $2,266,718 | $4,939,646 | $7,206,364 |
| 58 | Brian Porter (partial year) | The Bank of Nova Scotia | $800,000 | $6,250,000 | $7,050,000 |
| 59 | Paul A. Mahon | Great-West Lifeco Inc. | $800,077 | $6,194,780 | $6,994,857 |
| 60 | Robert Sawyer | RONA Inc | $604,811 | $6,007,445 | $6,612,256 |
| 61 | William J. Doyle | Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. | $1,294,889 | $5,270,722 | $6,565,611 |
| 62 | H. Stanley Marshall | Fortis Inc. | $1,200,000 | $5,325,052 | $6,525,052 |
| 63 | Frank Hasenfratz (Chairman) | Linamar Corp | $424,580 | $6,020,172 | $6,444,752 |
| 64 | John Floren | Methanex Corporation | $750,250 | $5,528,457 | $6,278,707 |
| 65 | Pierre Beaudoin | Bombardier Inc. | $1,401,851 | $4,786,429 | $6,188,280 |
| 66 | Linda Hasenfratz (CEO) | Linamar Corp | $576,660 | $5,547,352 | $6,124,012 |
| 67 | Randy V.J. Smallwood | Silver Wheaton Corp. | $871,963 | $5,158,727 | $6,030,690 |
| 68 | David L. French | Bankers Petroleum Ltd | $391,000 | $5,478,630 | $5,869,630 |
| 69 | Nancy C. Southern | Canadian Utilities and ATCO | $1,000,000 | $4,691,339 | $5,691,339 |
| 70 | J. Bruce Flatt | Brookfield Asset Management Inc. | $515,235 | $5,169,718 | $5,684,953 |
| 71 | L. Scott Thomson | Finning International Inc. | $467,308 | $5,174,014 | $5,641,322 |
| 72 | Robert G. Card | SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. | $934,622 | $4,694,968 | $5,629,590 |
| 73 | Paul Reynolds | Canaccord Genuity Group Inc | $750,000 | $4,850,243 | $5,600,243 |
| 74 | Jay S. Hennick | FirstService Corp/Canada | $1,692,974 | $3,809,140 | $5,502,114 |
| 75 | Al Monaco | Enbridge Inc. | $1,030,000 | $4,411,495 | $5,441,495 |
| 76 | Edward Sonshine | Riocan Real Estate Investment Trust | $1,200,000 | $4,172,814 | $5,372,814 |
| 77 | Rich Kruger | Imperial Oil Ltd. | $590,905 | $4,686,638 | $5,277,543 |
| 78 | Vincente Trius (President) | Loblaw Companies Limited | $1,000,000 | $4,264,471 | $5,264,471 |
| 79 | M.H. McCain | Maple Leaf Foods Inc | $1,018,142 | $4,221,593 | $5,239,735 |
| 80 | Mark Davis | Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund | $700,000 | $4,532,591 | $5,232,591 |
| 81 | José Boisjoli | BRP Inc/CA | $925,000 | $4,299,403 | $5,224,403 |
| 82 | Marcel R. Coutu | Canadian Oil Sands Limited | $880,000 | $4,314,930 | $5,194,930 |
| 83 | Marigay McKee (President of Saks Fifth Ave.) | Hudson’s Bay Co | $171,667 | $4,999,994 | $5,171,661 |
| 84 | Gerald S. Panneton (partial year) | Detour Gold Corp | $651,671 | $4,431,869 | $5,083,540 |
| 85 | Glenn J. Chamandy | Gildan Activewear Inc. | $849,219 | $4,141,835 | $4,991,054 |
| 86 | John M. Cassaday | Corus Entertainment Inc | $955,325 | $3,981,292 | $4,936,617 |
| 87 | Alain Bédard | TransForce Inc | $1,050,000 | $3,843,619 | $4,893,619 |
| 88 | Robert A. Gannicott (CEO) | Dominion Diamond Corp | $1,016,135 | $3,803,292 | $4,819,427 |
| 89 | Christopher G. Huskilson | Emera Incorporated | $871,635 | $3,894,545 | $4,766,180 |
| 90 | David Roberts | Penn West Petroleum Ltd. | $400,000 | $4,350,199 | $4,750,199 |
| 91 | Galen G. Weston (Exec. Chair) | Loblaw Companies Limited | $1,000,000 | $3,721,872 | $4,721,872 |
| 92 | Tim Gitzel | Cameco Corporation | $918,000 | $3,802,325 | $4,720,325 |
| 93 | Charles Brindamour | Intact Financial Corporation | $849,808 | $3,754,751 | $4,604,559 |
| 94 | Stephen A. MacPhail | CI Financial Corp | $750,000 | $3,826,000 | $4,576,000 |
| 95 | David Demers | Westport Innovations Inc | $700,000 | $3,801,100 | $4,501,100 |
| 96 | James Riddell | Trilogy Energy Corp | - | $4,486,841 | $4,486,841 |
| 97 | David Fesyk | Inter Pipeline Ltd. | $650,000 | $3,831,450 | $4,481,450 |
| 98 | Pierre J. Blouin | Manitoba Telecom Services Inc | $850,000 | $3,425,750 | $4,275,750 |
| 99 | James L. Bowzer | Baytex Energy Corp. | $575,000 | $3,660,300 | $4,235,300 |
| 100 | Thomas J. Simons | Canadian Energy Services & Technology Co | $400,000 | $3,739,266 | $4,139,266 |
* “Other Compensation” includes bonuses, shares, options, pension and any other payments. Full details at CCPA.
Source: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
