A new report shows that Canada's highest-paid CEOs took home record levels of compensation in 2021. (Photo: Dreammediapeel | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Canada’s top-paid CEOs rake in record-breaking compensation in 2021: report

Jan 3, 2023 | 11:39 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – While many Canadians struggled financially during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s highest-paid executives did not.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has released its report titled, “Breakfast of champions: CEO pay in 2021 hits new all-time high.”

The report determined that the 100 best-paid chief executive officers (CEO) in the country “broke every compensation record in the books in 2021.”

The average pay for these corporate executives was $14.3 million, breaking the previous record of $11.8 million in 2018 and marking a 31.2% increase for 2020’s average pay of $10.9 million.

Philip Fayer, the chair and CEO of global payments technology company Nuvei, raked in by far the most in 2021, taking home $140,778,515 in total compensation.

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In second place was Patrick Dovigi, the President and CEO of waste management company Gfl Environmental Inc. He claimed total compensation of $43,440,598.

Of the 100 highest paid CEOs, the lowest paid received $6.7 million in 2021. This marks the highest “minimum wage” for Canada’s top CEOs, according to the report.

Moreso then ever, the wealthiest CEOs in the country are relying less on their salaries for the income, instead putting a much bigger focus on stock options and bonus-type compensation. In 2021, salaries made up an average of just eight percent of their total compensation.

The CCPA notes that inflation is driving many of the gains experienced by the top-paid CEOs.

“Never before have corporate profits captured so much of Canada’s economy. As profits hit record highs, CEO bonuses linked to profits also skyrocket,” says the CCPA report.

According to the report, workers did not experience the same levels of economic growth as their employers. 2021 marked a record-breaking CEO-to-worker pay gap as the richest CEOs made 243 times more than their average employee.

The CCPA says only three of the 100 top-paid CEOs in Canada were women.

The full report is available on the CCPA website.