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Canada’s highest-paid CEOs make 246x the average worker, says new report

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It was another record-breaking year for Canada’s richest CEOs.

In one work day, and less than a half hour into the new year — 27 minutes to be exact — Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs will have already earned the average worker’s annual salary, according to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

It translates to roughly $60,600 by 9:27 a.m. on Jan. 2, if you include Monday as a paid holiday, according to the report.

The CCPA, an Ottawa-based think-tank that focuses on social, economic and environmental issues, found that the 100 best-paid CEOs in Canada now make 246 times what the typical worker earns. That number breaks last year’s record of 243 times the average worker’s pay.

“The 100 CEOs, who are overwhelmingly male, got paid an average of $14.9 million in 2022. This amount surpasses their previously record-breaking pay of $14.3 million in 2021 and sets a new all-time high in our data series,” said David Macdonald, a senior economist at the CCPA and the report’s author.

Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, calls the report “enraging.”

“We’ve seen CEO pay increase consistently over the last number of years to a point now where it’s the highest it’s been … And at the same time we have these CEOs and the employer clubs that they’re part of lobbying every single day and fighting tooth and nail to make sure that we don’t have better labour laws in this country,” she said.

How one CEO tries to keep things on an ‘even scale’

Not all CEOs, however, are paid such large amounts of money. Hosni Zaouali, the CEO of ConnectED Labs, a Toronto-based technology company, has a specific formula that he said he follows to ensure his pay and his employees’ pay are on an “even scale.”

He said the highest salary at his company is “never 10 times higher than the lowest salary.”

Hosni Zaouali, the CEO of ConnectED Labs, says the highest salary at his company is "never 10 times higher than the lowest salary."
Hosni Zaouali, the CEO of ConnectED Labs, says the highest salary at his company is never more than ’10 times higher than the lowest salary.’ (CBC News)

“It means that if the company shows success, operational success and financial success, it’s not only thanks to the CEO, it’s also thanks to everybody, including the lowest salary in the company. So we make sure that everybody gets compensated accordingly,” he said.

Zaouali said it’s “very important that the lowest salary is not too far from the highest salary in our company to keep everybody energized and everybody motivated.”

While base salary is an important factor when considering CEO wealth, it doesn’t provide a full picture of their total compensation, according to the CCPA report.

A ‘story about inflation’

Like last year’s report, which CBC News also covered, part of the explanation for the large increases in CEO pay is linked to inflation, Macdonald said.

“This is largely a story about inflation … CEOs are paid primarily through bonuses, and those bonuses are based on things like revenue and profits. When revenue and profit goes through the roof due to inflation, bonuses go through the roof.”

Macdonald said despite this, salaries for average workers are often not keeping up with inflation.

“In 2022, the average worker in Canada got an average pay raise of $1,800, or three per cent. But prices went up by 6.8 per cent in 2022, meaning workers took a real pay cut of almost four per cent compared to 2021.”

WATCH | It’s a lot harder than it usually is’: Budgeting for holiday shopping with inflation: 

‘It’s a lot harder than it usually is’: Budgeting for holiday shopping with inflation

 

Shoppers and their wallets are feeling the pain of the increase in the cost of living this holiday season.

In comparison, the top 100 CEOs saw an average pay raise of $623,000, or 4.4 per cent in 2022, according to the report.

One economist said studies like the one presented by the CCPA are “flawed.”

“The only way you can arrive at this conclusion is that you’re comparing oranges with apples,” said Vincent Geloso, an assistant professor of economics at George Mason University in Virginia.

Geloso said reports like this fail to include other forms of employee compensation like benefits.

“People get more fringe benefits in the form of insurance, in the form of flexible hours. Things that employers pay for but aren’t considered compensation. When you include them, and you include that instead of wages alone, you’re getting a completely different portrait.”

In a 2020 report for the Fraser Insitute, a Canadian think-tank promoting private sector solutions, Geloso also argues that CEOs are paid for possessing unique skill sets that are increasingly in demand.

“Today you find CEOs who have a larger share of PhDs and MAs and MSCs and STEMs. So they’re in harder sciences and harder domains, so there’s greater levels of skill in terms of pure knowledge.”

Addressing the gap

Lana Payne, the union leader, thinks governments can help reduce growing inequality. She supports measures such as improving and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers, raising the minimum wage and ensuring people have guaranteed hours of work.

 “I think the challenge is that more work needs to be done on a number of fronts to make sure that workers are not falling behind,” said Payne, who believes these measures could reduce what she calls the “inequality gap.”

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Improving and expanding access to collective bargaining rights for workers, improving minimum wages, and making sure people have guaranteed hours of work are some of the things Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, says could contain what she calls the ‘inequality gap.’ (CBC News)

The CCPA report also makes several suggestions for reducing the pay gap. The group suggests: introducing higher top marginal tax brackets, removing corporate tax deductability for compensation over $1 million, introducing a wealth tax on the rich and increasing the capital gains inclusion rate (making CEOs pay more taxes on the money they make selling stocks).

“We’ve seen the active closure of the stock option deduction in 2021 as well as new higher income tax brackets in 2016. So this is something where we’ve seen a lot of debate particularly in other areas like a new wealth tax,” said Macdonald.

 

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Fall storm could bring ‘hurricane force’ winds to B.C.

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VANCOUVER – Environment Canada is warning about an intensifying storm that is expected to bring powerful winds to Vancouver Island and the British Columbia coast this week.

Matt MacDonald, the lead forecaster for the BC Wildfire Service, says models predict “explosive cyclogenesis,” which is also known as a bomb cyclone, materializing Tuesday night.

Such storms are caused by a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure at the centre of a storm system that results in heavy rain and high winds.

MacDonald says in a social media post that B.C. coastal inlets could see “hurricane force” winds of more than 118 km/h and create waves up to nine metres off Washington and Oregon.

Environment Canada posted a special weather statement saying the storm will develop off the coast of Vancouver Island on Tuesday, bringing high winds and heavy rain to some areas starting in the afternoon.

It says the weather system may cause downed trees, travel delays and power outages, adding that peak winds are expected for most areas Tuesday night, though the severe weather is likely to continue into Wednesday.

B.C. has been hit by a series of powerful fall storms, including an atmospheric river that caused flash flooding in Metro Vancouver in mid-October.

A lightning storm overnight and early Monday covered parts of Metro Vancouver in hail.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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CBP Announces New Hours for Border Crossing Locations

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CHAMPLAIN, N.Y. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), will adjust hours of operation for 38 ports of entry (POEs) along the U.S. northern border, beginning at midnight, Jan. 6, 2025.

This will allow CBP to enhance border security while facilitating legitimate cross-border trade and travel. CBP officers will be deployed to busier ports of entry, enabling the agency to use its resources most effectively for its critical national security and border security missions.

These adjustments formalize current operating hours that have been in effect for more than four years at 13 ports of entry across the northern border, with eight ports of entry expanding hours. A small number of ports will see reduced hours in an effort to continually align resources to operational realities. Travelers who use these affected crossing locations will have other options within a reasonable driving distance.

Importantly, these adjustments have been made in close coordination with CBSA, to ensure aligned operational hours that further enhance the security of both countries.

CBP continually monitors operations, traffic patterns and volume, and analyzes the best use of resources to better serve the traveling public. CBP will remain engaged with local and regional stakeholders, as well as communities to ensure consistent communication and to address concerns.

The vast majority of the 118 northern border ports of entry will continue to operate at existing hours, including many with 24/7 operations. Locate ports of entry and access border wait times here.

The following are the new permanent POE hours of operation for select New York POEs:

  • Chateauguay, NY                 new hours of operation – 6 am to 6 pm
  • Trout River, NY                   new hours of operation – 6 am to 6 pm
  • Rouses Point, NY                 new hours of operation – 8 am to 8 pm
  • Overton Corners, NY            new hours of operation – 6 am to 10 pm

Again, these changes will go into effect beginning at midnight, January 6, 2025.

Below is a listing of each location with the closest border crossing that will remain open 24/7 for appropriate commercial and passenger traffic:

  • Chateauguay, NY –                closest 24/7 port: Fort Covington – 27 miles
  • Trout River, NY –                   closest 24/7 port: Fort Covington – 11 miles
  • Rouses Point, NY –                closest 24/7 port: Champlain – 8 miles
  • Overton Corners, NY –           closest 24/7 port: Champlain – 5 miles

For additional information or to contact a port of entry, please visit CBP.gov.

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @CBPBuffalo and @DFOBuffalo

For more on Customs and Border Protection’s mission at our nation’s ports of entry with CBP officers and along U.S. borders with Border Patrol agents, please visit the Border Security section of the CBP website.

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @CBPBuffalo @DFOBuffalo and @USBPChiefBUN

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Man police linked to neo-Nazi group pleads not guilty to terrorism charges

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OTTAWA – An Ottawa man is pleading not guilty to charges of terrorism and hate-speech related to the promotion of a far-right group.

RCMP charged Patrick Gordon Macdonald in July 2023, alleging he took part in activities of a listed terrorist organization.

It’s the first case in Canada where the government laid charges for both terrorism and hate propaganda against someone for promoting a violent, far-right ideology.

As the trial opened Monday in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Crown prosecutors alleged Macdonald helped produce propaganda for the Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi organization Canada listed as a terror group in 2021.

Prosecutors alleged he aided in the production of three propaganda videos designed to recruit new members and incite hatred against Jews.

The allegations have not yet been proven in court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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