The Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) says The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) handed out almost $27 million in bonuses last year to nearly 2,300 staff members.
According to CTF, it obtained internal CMHC records that reveal “more than 90 per cent of the federal Crown corporation’s staff have taken home an annual bonus in recent years.”
The federally incorporated, not-for-profit citizen’s group claims the average compensation paid to CHMC executives in 2022 rose to $697,667 in comparison to $674,111 the year before.
There are now apparently 931 CMHC staffers that take home over $100,000 a year in salary, according to the documents obtained by the CTF through a separate access-to-information request.
In addition, the CMHC allegedly handed out $75 million in bonuses since the beginning of 2020, according to CTF.
“If the CMHC’s number one goal is housing affordability, then it doesn’t make sense to shower employees with bonuses and balloon its C-suite compensation while Canadians can’t afford to buy a home,” Franco Terrazzano, CTF’s federal director, said in a statement on Monday. “This is another example of the government rewarding failure with taxpayer-funded bonuses.”
Terrazzano goes on to say that in the real world, when people fail at their job they get fired, not a big bonus.
“Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid government executives and bureaucrats taking big bonuses,” he continued.
Now Toronto reached out to CMHC for comment and it said some numbers obtained by CTF are “based on assumptions that are incorrect.”
The CMHC, however, said that in 2022, 2,292 CMHC employees received a combined $26,867,455 in incentive pay.
“CMHC is committed to recognizing employee performance and contributions to the organization through cash compensation, which includes a blend of base pay, and incentive pay. The rates of pay for CMHC employees are competitive, and reflective of current labour market conditions. Incentive pay is not linked to variations in the housing situation in Canada,” CMHC spokesperson David Harris said in an email statement on Wednesday.
“The total compensation offered by CMHC as an employer – including base
salaries and incentive pay – are an important tool for attracting and retaining the employees we need to carry out our work and deliver on important programs for Canadians,” Harris added.
In April, a poll from Ipsos showed that 63 per cent of Canadians have given up the idea of owning a home.
Furthermore, 70 per cent of respondents said home ownership in Canada is “only for the rich.”
