CEOs with falling wages still earn almost $9M

Despite falling wages for top execs, Canadian CEOs have already earned more than the average worker will all year.

Canada’s top CEOs may have suffered a drop in wages but a recent report shows they’re still raking in an incredible $9M a year – that’s 184 times the average worker’s annual salary.

Published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the report analysed salary information from 249 TSX-listed companies and found that despite a two per cent drop from 2013 to 2014, top CEOs are still earning an average of $8.96 million.

Research associate Hugh Mackenzie said it was not yet possible to tell if the drop in compensation is a sign of a new trend or simply a one-off.

"It's not clear from the data at this point, because we've only seen one year, whether this is indicative of a slight downward trend or whether this is just a blip," said Mackenzie.

"My gut instinct tells me that it's a blip," he added, citing a change in how stock options are being valued.

Regardless of the “blip,” the figure still sits far in excess of the $48,636 that the CCPA says the typical Canadian worker earns in a year – and it’s climbing at a faster rate too.

According to the CCPA, between 2008 and 2013, the country's 100 top-paid CEOs saw their compensation climb about 25 per cent to $9.2 million — roughly twice as fast as the average wage for Canadians.

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