Canada's top-paid CEOs have been revealed, and from e-commerce kings to grocery titans, their jaw-dropping salaries highlight the massive gap between the country's wealthiest and everyone else.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has just dropped its annual report on Canada's highest-paid CEOs, and the top 100 made an average of $13.2 million each in 2023. Yep — that's 210 times more than the average Canadian worker earned that year.
In fact, by 11 a.m. on January 2, the first working day of the year, these execs had each already raked in $62,661 on average — the equivalent of what the average Canadian worker made in the entire year.
While many of these CEOs make a base salary that most of us can only dream of, it turns out their multi-million-dollar salaries are just the tip of the iceberg, making up less than 10% of their overall compensation at around $1.3 million on average. The real money is in cash bonuses, stock options and shares.
According to the report, bonuses accounted for an average of $10.7 million per top-100 CEO in 2023 — more than 80% of their overall compensation. While these types of pay are intended to be variable based on the company's performance, the CCPA notes that isn't always the case.
"These awards are based on company performance in good times but are often changed in bad times to ensure execs get them anyway," the report explains. "In reality, these massive bonuses only go one way: up."
The CCPA also highlights the massive gender gap in C-suites across Canada — only three of Canada's 100 highest-paid CEOs in 2023 were women. There are literally more CEOs named Scott or Michael than there are women on the entire list. Talk about a boys' club!
Here are the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in Canada in 2023:
Keith Creel
Base salary: $1,822,095
Total compensation: $20,079,552
Keith Creel is the president and CEO of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (known as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited until 2023), a major railway company headquartered in Calgary that operates across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It's the only single-line rail corporation connecting all three countries, managing over 32,000 kilometres of rail.
Darren Entwistle
Base salary: $1,600,000
Total compensation: $21,064,289
Darren Entwistle is the president and CEO of Telus Corporation, a Vancouver-based company offering telecommunications, TV, internet and health services. Telus also operates internationally through its customer service and digital IT solutions subsidiaries.
Thomas J. Appio
Base salary: $1,578,111
Total compensation: $21,431,317
Thomas Appio is the CEO of Bausch Health Companies Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Laval, Quebec. Known for eye health and dermatology products, Bausch Health also owns Bausch + Lomb, a major supplier of contact lenses and eye-care products.
Per Bank
Base salary: $438,333
Total compensation: $22,137,979
Per Bank is the president and CEO of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest supermarket retailer. Bank joined Loblaw late in the year on November 1, 2023 — replacing Galen Weston Jr., who remains chairman and CEO of its parent company, George Weston Limited. Weston Jr. is also on the top 100 list, albeit lower down at #45 with $11,762,145 in total compensation in 2023.
Despite only working for the company for two months of 2023, Bank's massive compensation for the year is mostly due to a one-time sign-on package that included $13 million in cash bonuses "to replace compensation that he forfeited by resigning from his former employer," the Globe and Mail reports.
Seetarama (Swamy) Kotagiri
Base salary: $438,653
Total compensation: $22,888,213
Swamy Kotagiri is the CEO of Magna International Inc., the largest auto parts manufacturer in North America. Headquartered in Aurora, Ontario, Magna supplies components to major automakers like GM, Ford, Toyota, Tesla and Volkswagen.
Tobias (Tobi) Lütke
Base salary: $1
Total compensation: $26,994,011
Tobi Lütke is the founder and CEO of Shopify Inc., a global e-commerce platform headquartered in Ottawa. Shopify hosts over 5.6 million online stores in over 175 countries and has become a major tool for entrepreneurs worldwide.
Don't be fooled by the symbolic $1 salary — Lütke is actually one of the richest people in Canada, with an estimated net worth of US$9.38 billion in 2024.
Alan Kestenbaum
Base salary: $4,232,320
Total compensation: $35,314,289
Alan Kestenbaum is the CEO of Stelco Holdings Inc., a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario. Stelco specializes in producing flat-rolled steel for construction, automotive and energy industries.
R.M. (Rich) Kruger
Base salary: $970,000
Total compensation: $36,846,735
Rich Kruger is the CEO of Suncor Energy Inc., a Calgary-based energy company known for its oil sands production and synthetic crude operations. Kruger joined the company in April 2023, making his top-three earnings even more striking, considering they're for less than a full year's work.
Joshua Kobza
Base salary: $1,201,233
Total compensation: $39,097,490
Joshua Kobza is the CEO of Restaurant Brands International Inc., a fast-food holding company formed by the 2014 merger between Tim Hortons and Burger King. The Toronto-based company is the fifth-largest fast-food operator in the world and remains the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.
Patrick Dovigi
Base salary: $2,110,299
Total compensation: $68,464,987
Patrick Dovigi is the founder, president and CEO of GFL Environmental Inc., a waste management company based in Vaughan, Ontario. GFL provides waste and recycling services across Canada and the U.S., including residential garbage collection in various Canadian municipalities.
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