Earlier this week, David Macdonald published his Company Men: CEO Pay in Canada, 2023 with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In it, he lists the 100 top executives in Canada, based on the compensation they received in 2023.
Compensation includes salary, shares and stocks, option-based awards, non-equity incentive plan, pensions, and others.
Combined, the 100 executives finished 2023 with $1.316 billion in total compensation. That’s down from $1.490 billion in 2022 and $1.427 billion in 2021 but up from $1.088 billion in 2020.
The highest compensated executive was Patrick Dovigi, the president and chief executive officer of GFL Environmental Inc., a waste management company based out of Vaughan, Ontario. He received nearly $70 million in total compensation, with only $2.7 million of it coming from salary.
The next highest compensated CEO was a distant second at $36.8 million. R. M. Kruger, the chair and CEO of Suncor Energy Inc., based in Calgary, received a salary of under $1 million, with $32 million in shares, $2.2 million in stock options, $1.6 million in “non-equity incentive plan compensation”, which is usually based on the company’s financial performance, and about $50,000 in “other” compensation.
The lowest compensated executive on Macdonald’s list was José Boisjoli, the president and CEO of Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) Inc. out of Valcourt, Québec. His total compensation was just under $6.9 million, with $1.3 million coming from salary.
Boisjoli dropped from 29th place in 2022, when he received over $8.5 million in compensation.
Nearly half of the executives (44) were with Ontario-based companies. Québec came in second at 23, and Alberta’s 14 helped it secure 3rd place. In 2022, Ontario had 42 executives, and Alberta had 14.
Despite there being 14 executives from Alberta, there were only 11 companies on the top 100 list from Alberta.
| Altagas Ltd. | 2 |
| Atco Ltd. | 1 |
| Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. | 2 |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited | 1 |
| Cenovus Energy Inc. | 2 |
| Enbridge Inc. | 1 |
| Imperial Oil | 1 |
| Pembina Pipeline Corp. | 1 |
| Stantec Inc. | 1 |
| Suncor Energy Inc. | 1 |
| TC Energy Corp. | 1 |
| AltaGas Ltd. | 1 |
| ATCO LTD. | 1 |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd | 1 |
| Cenovus Energy Inc. | 1 |
| Enbridge Inc. | 1 |
| Finning International Inc. | 1 |
| Imperial Oil Limited | 1 |
| Pembina Pipeline Corporation | 1 |
| Stantec Inc. | 1 |
| TC Energy Corporation | 1 |
| Canadian Natural Resources Limited | 2 |
| Suncor Energy Inc. | 2 |
In 2022, Finning International had an executive on top 100 list, but not in 2023. As well, AltaGas had only 1 executive on the list in 2022 but had 2 in 2023. Same with Cenovus. Canadian Natural Resources, on the other hand, went from 2 executives to just 1.
Here’s how the 11 Alberta companies paid out in total compensation to their executives who made the list:
| Suncor Energy Inc. | $36,846,735 |
| Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. | $24,417,079 |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited | $20,079,552 |
| Altagas Ltd. | $19,457,254 |
| Enbridge Inc. | $18,732,784 |
| Cenovus Energy Inc. | $16,781,021 |
| Imperial Oil | $14,831,530 |
| TC Energy Corp. | $13,290,831 |
| Pembina Pipeline Corp. | $11,526,629 |
| Stantec Inc. | $8,593,731 |
| Atco Ltd. | $7,113,027 |
Total compensation for all Alberta companies was nearly $192 million, which is about a $30 million increase from the $162 million paid out in 2022. In 2021, Alberta companies paid out nearly $167 million in compensation to executives on the top 100 list.
The 14 executives from Alberta received an average of $13.69 51 million in total compensation in 2021. Compare that to 2022, when the average was $13.51 million, in 2021, when it was $12.82 million, in 2020 when it was $10.92 million, and 2019 when the average was $10.13 million.
And here’s how it breaks down by industry:
| Energy | $126,150,155 |
| Logistics | $20,079,552 |
| Engineering | $8,593,731 |
| Total | $154,823,438 |
Finally, here’s total compensation for each Alberta executive:
| Name | Position | Company | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| R. M. Kruger | Chair and CEO | Suncor Energy Inc. | $36,846,735 |
| Keith E. Creel | President and CEO | Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited | $20,079,552 |
| Gregory L. Ebel | President and CEO | Enbridge Inc. | $18,732,784 |
| N. Murray Edwards | Executive Chair | Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. | $17,017,708 |
| B.W. Corson | Chairman, president and CEO | Imperial Oil | $14,831,530 |
| François Poirier | President and CEO | TC Energy Corp. | $13,290,831 |
| Vern Yu | President and CEO | Altagas Ltd. | $12,318,855 |
| Scott Burrows | President and CEO | Pembina Pipeline Corp. | $11,526,629 |
| Jon McKenzie | President and CEO | Cenovus Energy Inc. | $8,671,098 |
| Gord Johnston | President & CEO | Stantec Inc. | $8,593,731 |
| Alex Pourbaix | President and CEO | Cenovus Energy Inc. | $8,109,923 |
| Scott G. Stauth | President | Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. | $7,399,371 |
| Randall Crawford | President & CEO | Altagas Ltd. | $7,138,399 |
| Nancy C. Southern | Chair & CEO | Atco Ltd. | $7,113,027 |
A few interesting things from the Alberta data.
The executive with the lowest salary was N. Murray Edwards, executive chair of the Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources, who received only $1 in salary during 2023. But his total compensation still came to over $17 million, bringing him into the top 4 highest paid Alberta executives.
Likewise, 5 other executives all received less than $1 million in salaries:
| Scott G. Stauth | President | CNRL |
| Vern Yu | President & CEO | Altagas |
| Alex Pourbaix | President & CEO | Cenovus Energy |
| R. M. Kruger | Chair & CEO | Suncor Energy |
| Jon McKenzie | President & CEO | Cenovus Energy |
However, they ended up with much more than that once you factor in stocks, cash bonuses, and pensions. Kruger hit nearly $37 million, Yu received $12.3 million, McKenzie and Pourbaix both got over $8 million, and Stuath came in last with $7.4 million.
Keith E. Creel, the president and CEO of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, received the highest salary, at $1.82 million. He also received the highest compensation in stock option, at $5.5 million.
Kruger received just under $32 million in shares, the most of any other Alberta executive on the list.
The highest pension value that year was awarded to Randall Crawford, who was the president and CEO of Altagas and received nearly $4.4 million. The highest “other compensation” amount among Alberta executives was paid out to B.W. Corson, Imperial Oil’s chair, president, and CEO, who received nearly $6 million.
Of the 14 Alberta executives who made the list in 2020, only half were still on the list in 2023.
- B.W. Corson
- Mark S. Little
- Scott Burrows
- N. Murray Edwards
- Randall Crawford
- Alexander J. Pourbaix
- Keith E. Creel
Of the 14 executives who were on the list in 2022, 9 were on the 2023 list, and here is how total compensation for those 9 Alberta executives changed between the two years.
| 2022 | 2023 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith E. Creel | $14,523,546 | $20,079,552 | $5,556,006 |
| Scott Burrows | $11,311,107 | $13,290,831 | $1,979,724 |
| N. Murray Edwards | $15,633,171 | $17,017,708 | $1,384,537 |
| Gord Johnston | $7,567,690 | $8,593,731 | $1,026,041 |
| L. Scott Thomson | $7,058,810 | $7,113,027 | $54,217 |
| Randall Crawford | $8,676,379 | $7,138,399 | -$1,537,980 |
| B.W. Corson | $17,341,523 | $14,831,530 | -$2,509,993 |
| Mark S. Little | $15,629,961 | $11,526,629 | -$4,103,332 |
| Alexander J. Pourbaix | $12,836,401 | $8,109,923 | -$4,726,478 |
In his article, Macdonald proposed 2 measures to deal with pay inequity between executives and median worker pay:
- Create new top income tax brackets
“Today, the combined federal and provincial top marginal brackets, which apply to those with the highest income amount to roughly 50%. In the post-war years, top marginal income tax brackets stood within the 70% range.” - Introduce a wealth tax
“Having a very small annual tax on wealth is a much more direct way to address wealth inequality in Canada. Imposing a wealth tax on those worth more than $10 million could raise $32 billion a year to help address affordability for food and housing in a very meaningful way.”
2 replies on “Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs received $1.3B in 2023”
We need a firm cap on both total compensation and total wealth. The maximum salary should not exceed the prime minister. Anything higher should be taxed at 100 percent. Inheritance over 10 million should also be taxed at 100 percent. You cannot take it with you!
Interesting how we talk about minimum wage but never maximum wage or maximum wealth. Why?
[…] from Alberta received an average of $14.26 million in total compensation in 2024. Compare that to 2023, when it was $13.69 million; in 2022, when the average was $13.51 million; in 2021, when it was […]