Barely into 2025, the bosses of Quebec’s largest companies have already earned the equivalent of the average annual salary in Quebec, according to an analysis by the Observatoire québécois des inequalities (OQI).
Posted at 7:01 a.m.
Frédéric Lacroix-Couture
The Canadian Press
At 11:05 a.m. on Thursday, 21 chief executive officers (CEOs) of a company headquartered in Quebec had pocketed $60,007 in 10.1 hours.
The Observatory suggests that by the end of 2025, these senior executives will each have received on average compensation of more than 12.4 million, or 206 times more than the average annual salary of Quebec workers.
“These are multiples which are completely staggering and which remind us to the extent to which economic inequalities are exacerbated even in Quebec,” comments Geoffroy Boucher, economist at the OQI, in an interview.
This is the second year that the organization has conducted such an exercise on the compensation of senior business executives in collaboration with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). He has been making such a compilation for several years now.
Their analysis looks at the 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada among companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
It takes into account not only salaries, but also different forms of bonuses, such as cash bonuses and stock options, which are disclosed in shareholder documents.
Last year, Quebec CEOs earned the equivalent of the average annual salary around 10:15 a.m. compared to 11:05 a.m. this year, which represents “a very slight improvement in the situation,” says Mr. Boucher.
“Given that we are still dealing with fairly significant figures, when there is a small increase in the average annual salary, let’s say that it has a big impact on the multiplier. There was an increase from $57,000 to $60,000 in the average annual salary in Quebec in the context of the inflationary crisis,” he emphasizes.
The results presented by the OQI and the CCPA are criticized by the Montreal Economic Institute (IEDM). The latter believes that the two organizations offer “an erroneous perspective due to selective use of data”.
The MEI argues that according to data from Industry Canada, the compensation of the CEOs of the 100 largest companies in the country represents a non-probability sample of 0.008% of Canadian companies.
“The CEOs of these companies tend to employ some of the highest paid workforces in the country, as they are also some of the most productive. These include employees of telecommunications companies, large banks or the natural resources sector, all sectors known for their rather high salaries,” says the vice-president of communications at the MEI, Renaud Brossard. , in a press release.
The MEI believes that it would have been more relevant to compare the average income of full-time workers with that of full-time senior executives. Based on data from Statistics Canada, the organization says the average salary of a senior executive would be approximately 2.7 times higher than a full-time worker.
Capital gain
According to Mr. Boucher, data from the OQI and the CCPA reveal that “resources are distributed very unequally within society” in Quebec, even if the latter is less unequal than other states.
It’s okay if their shareholders decide that they pay them that much, but we can question whether the work that these people do is really worth that much money, considering ultimately that we are increasing economic inequalities overall. of the population.
Geoffroy Boucher, economist at the Quebec Observatory of Inequalities
Exacerbated inequalities “can reduce our collective capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st centurye century”, such as the climate crisis or the housing crisis, indicates the economist, citing in particular the Laboratory on Global Inequalities on this subject.
In the eyes of the OQI, a better redistribution of wealth involves in particular increasing the capital gains inclusion rate. During its last budget, the Trudeau government announced that this tax would increase from 50 to 66.7% for the bracket exceeding $250,000 per year. This measure has been in effect since June 25, 2024.
The Observatory believes that this decision could bring big returns to government coffers, if we consider that the 21 CEOs of Quebec companies analyzed hold shares worth $11.8 billion.
If these bosses were to sell these shares, this could result in 250 million in tax to be paid, with the hypothesis that 25% of the value of the shares held by these CEOs represent capital gains, argues the Observatory.
“What we believe is that we need to look more at what is happening in terms of heritage, all the wealth that is accumulated over time. This is where inequalities are most exacerbated. Unlike income, where our tax policies are quite dynamic in redistribution, this is not really the case for wealth. In fact, wealth is taxed very little,” maintains Mr. Boucher.
He recalls that the 10% of the best-off in Quebec capture half of the wealth, compared to 3% for 40% of the poorest.
Only one woman
Furthermore, the OQI underlines that only one woman rises in the ranking of the 21 CEOs of Quebec companies analyzed.
The Observatory mentions that this finding is consistent with its report published last November, maintaining that fewer women were among the better off than men in Quebec and Canada.
Based on tax data, it revealed that women are 64.6% less likely than men to be part of the better-off group in Quebec.
