Global Courant
Canada’s National Housing Agency staff received nearly $27 million in bonuses in 2022.
According to documents released through access to information requests and published by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, 2,292 employees of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) received $26,867,455 in bonuses last year. That’s more than 90 percent of the Crown Corporation’s workforce and an average of more than $11,700 per person.
“Canadians need more houses, not more highly paid government officials and bureaucrats who collect big bonuses,” Franco Terrazzano, executive director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told CTVNews.ca. “The government does not publish this information, but we believe Canadians deserve it.”
Data obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation also shows that the number of CMHC employees earning more than $100,000 a year increased by 27 percent between 2018 and 2022 to 931 people.
The agency’s website explains that the “CMHC exists for one reason: to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada.” As part of its mandate, the CMHC provides mortgage insurance and financial assistance to create and improve affordable rental housing. It also conducts housing research, and in its recent Outlook Housing market 2023the CMHC predicted declining affordability in cities like Vancouver and Toronto as housing demand continues to outstrip supply.
A recent report from RBC said, “owning a home is still a huge (if not impossible) trajectory for middle-income households in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, and Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax to a lesser extent.” The average asking price for a rental unit in Canada rose 7.5 percent to more than $2,040 per month, according to a July report from Rentals.ca. While housing markets may have cooled somewhat, rising interest rates have made mortgages more expensive and more difficult.
“If the main goal of the CMHC is housing affordability, then it makes no sense to overload employees with bonuses and inflate C-suite compensation when Canadians cannot afford to buy a home,” said Terrazzano of the nonprofit taxpayer. group said.
In an email to CTVNews.ca, a CMHC spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of access to information documents and highlighted the billions of dollars the CMHC has provided as dividends to the Government of Canada.
“CMHC is committed to recognizing employee performance and contributions to the organization through cash compensation, which includes a combination of base salary and incentive compensation,” said agency spokesperson Claudie Chabot. “The total compensation that CMHC provides as an employer – including base salaries and bonuses – is an important tool in attracting and retaining the employees we need to do our jobs and deliver important programs for Canadians.”
David Macdonald is the senior economist at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, a forward-thinking think tank focused on social, economic and environmental justice. He says the CMCH’s bonuses are “fairly low” compared to what the private sector offers.
“These bonuses will not be related to ‘housing unaffordability,’ they will be related to statistics for a particular person’s job,” Macdonald told CTVNews.ca by email Monday.
