Earlier week, David Macdonald published his Canada’s new gilded age: CEO pay in Canada in 2022 with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In it, he lists the 100 top executives in Canada, based on the compensation they received in 2022.
Compensation includes salary, shares and stocks, option-based awards, non-equity incentive plan, pensions, and others.
Combined, the 100 executives finished 2021 with $1.490 billion in total compensation. That’s up from $1.427 billion in 2021 and $1.088 billion in 2020.
The highest compensated CEO was Matthew Proud of Dye & Durham Limited, a software company based out of Vancouver. He received nearly $99 million in total compensation, despite having a salary of $0. All of his compensation came in the form of stock options, which is the ability for a person to purchase future stocks in the company.
The next highest compensated CEO was a distant second at $36.4 million. Seetarama Kotagiri of Magna International Inc., based in Aurora, Ontario, received a $422,923 salary, with $26.7 million in share, $4.8 million in stock options, and $4.5 million in “non-equity incentive plan compensation”, which is usually based on the company’s financial performance.
The lowest compensated executive on Macdonald’s list was Randy Smallwood, president and CEO with Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. out of Vancouver. His total compensation was about $6.70 million, with $1.2 million coming from salary.
Smallwood is new to the list, not having made the 2021 list.
Nearly half of the executives (42) were with Ontario-based companies. Québec came in second at 21, and Alberta’s 14 helped it secure 3rd place. In 2021, Ontario had 41 executives, and Alberta had 13.
Despite there being 14 executives from Alberta, there were only 12 companies on the top 100 list from Alberta.
| 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 2021, Suncor had only 1 executive on the list. Pembina had 2 executives on the list that year.
Here’s how the 12 Alberta companies paid out in total compensation to their executives who made the list:
| Canadian Natural Resources Limited | 24,659,731 |
| Suncor Energy Inc. | 22,673,464 |
| Imperial Oil Limited | 17,341,523 |
| Enbridge Inc. | 17,234,129 |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd | 14,523,546 |
| Cenovus Energy Inc. | 12,836,401 |
| Pembina Pipeline Corporation | 11,311,107 |
| TC Energy Corporation | 10,604,876 |
| AltaGas Ltd. | 8,676,379 |
| ATCO LTD. | 7,595,415 |
| Stantec Inc. | 7,567,690 |
| Finning International Inc. | 7,058,810 |
Total compensation for all Alberta companies was a little over $162 million in 2022, which is about an $4.538 million decline from the total $16.6 million paid out in 2021.
The 14 executives from Alberta received an average of $13.51 million in total compensation in 2021. Compare that to 2021, when the average 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 | $132,933,025 |
| Logistics | $14,523,546 |
| Engineering | $7,567,690 |
| Industrial equipment | $7,058,810 |
| Total | $162,083,071 |
Finally, here’s total compensation for each Alberta CEO:
| Name | Role | Company | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.W. Corson | Chairman, president and CEO | Imperial Oil Limited | $17,341,523 |
| Al Monaco | President & CEO | Enbridge Inc. | $17,234,129 |
| N. Murray Edwards | Executive Chair | Canadian Natural Resources Limited | $15,633,171 |
| M.S. Little | Former President and CEO | Suncor Energy Inc. | $15,629,961 |
| Keith E. Creel | President and CEO | Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd | $14,523,546 |
| Alex Pourbaix | President & CEO | Cenovus Energy Inc. | $12,836,401 |
| Scott Burrows | President and CEO | Pembina Pipeline Corporation | $11,311,107 |
| François Poirier | President and CEO | TC Energy Corporation | $10,604,876 |
| Tim S. McKay | President and CEO | Canadian Natural Resources Limited | $9,026,560 |
| Randall Crawford | President & CEO | AltaGas Ltd. | $8,676,379 |
| Nancy C. Southern | Chair & CEO | ATCO LTD. | $7,595,415 |
| Gord Johnston | President & CEO | Stantec Inc. | $7,567,690 |
| L. Scott Thomson | former President and CEO | Finning International Inc. | $7,058,810 |
| K.P. Smith | Interim President & CEO | Suncor Energy Inc. | $7,043,503 |
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 2022. But his total compensation still came to $15.6 million, bringing him into the top 3 highest paid Alberta executives.
Likewise, 3 other executives—K.P. Smith and M.S. Little, the interim and former CEO of Suncor, respectively, as well as Tim S. McKay, Canadian Natural Resources’ president and CEO—all received less than $1 million in salaries. However, they ended up with much more than that once you factor in stocks, cash bonuses, and pensions. Little hit $15.6 million, McKay received $9.03 million, and Smith came in last with $7.03 million.
Al Monaco, the president CEO of Enbridge, received the highest salary, at $1.75 million. He also received the highest compensation in stocks, at $8.9 million. Keith Creel received over $4.66 million in stock options, the most of anyone on the list.
The highest pension value that year was awarded to B.W. Corson, who was the chair, president, and CEO of Imperial Oil and received over $4.9 million. The highest “other compensation” amount was paid out to M.S. Little, who received nearly $6 million.
Of the 14 Alberta executive who made the list in 2020, 10 were also on the list in 2022. Michael Dilger of Pembina Pipeline Corp, Bradley Shaw of Shaw Communications, and Dawn Farrell of Transalta Corp. didn’t make the list. However, Scott Burrows, Dilger’s successor did.
Here is how total compensation for the 10 Alberta CEOs changed between the two years.
| 2021 | 2022 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.W. Corson | $8,750,549 | $17,341,523 | $8,590,974 |
| Mark S. Little | $11,800,791 | $15,629,961 | $3,829,170 |
| Scott Burrows | $7,580,585 | $11,311,107 | $3,730,522 |
| François Poirier | $9,813,923 | $10,604,876 | $790,953 |
| Tim S. McKay | $9,461,088 | $9,026,560 | -$434,528 |
| N. Murray Edwards | $16,112,751 | $15,633,171 | -$479,580 |
| Randall Crawford | $9,273,826 | $8,676,379 | -$597,447 |
| Alexander J. Pourbaix | $13,993,895 | $12,836,401 | -$1,157,494 |
| Al Monaco | $19,039,968 | $17,234,129 | -$1,805,839 |
| Keith E. Creel | $26,728,981 | $14,523,546 | -$12,205,435 |
In his article, Macdonald proposed 4 measures to deal with pay inequity between executives and median worker pay:
- Create new top income tax brackets
“Current top marginal income tax brackets in Canada are just over 50% in the large provinces, which is relatively low historically. In the post-war years, top marginal income tax brackets stood within the 70% range—much higher than they are today.” - Remove corporate deductibility of pay packages over $1 million
“For a profitable corporation, any money paid to its CEO is money it doesn’t have to pay corporate income tax. However, a limit could be put on this deductibility of an employee’s compensation if it exceeds a million dollars, or roughly the salary for Canada’s richest CEOs. If a company wanted to pay its CEO more than that, it wouldn’t receive a tax break on it.” - Introduce a wealth tax
“Introducing a bracketed wealth tax, starting with those who have over $10 million in wealth, could raise over $30 billion a year—and these rates are low compared to what American politicians are advocating for.” - Increase the capital gains inclusion rate
“Given that share awards are the predominant ways in which CEOs are now paid, instead of cash, capital gains tax breaks are an important way in which CEOs avoid paying their fair share. Income made when a stock is sold at a profit is called a capital gain and only half of capital gains income counts as income for tax purposes.”
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