The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s executive bonus compensation totalled almost $27 million in 2022, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). Since the
beginning of 2020, the CMHC has handed out $75 million in bonuses, amidst a housing affordability crisis.
“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,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano in a news release.
“This is another example of the government rewarding failure with taxpayer-funded bonuses.”
“In total, the CMHC handed out $75 million in bonuses since the beginning of 2020, as the country battled a housing affordability crisis and first-time home buyers struggled to break into the marketplace,” the CTF said.
On average, a CMHC employee received a bonus of $11,700 in 2022. The CTF says over 90 percent of the corporation’s staff have taken home annual bonuses in recent years, according to internal CMHC records obtained by the CTF.
A
poll conducted by Ipsos in April found that 63 percent of Canadians who don’t own a home have “given up” on ever buying one. Additionally, close to 70 percent of respondents believe that home ownership in Canada is “only for the rich.”
In September 2022, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
reported that “buying a home has never been so unaffordable.”
RBC
said its “aggregate affordability measure was thrust into record-high territory nationally (to 60.0%) and in Victoria (67.6%), Vancouver (90.2%) and Toronto (83.0%) in the second quarter of 2022. Smaller markets in Ontario (including Hamilton, London, St. Catharines, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, and Windsor) and British Columbia (including Kelowna) also reached their worst affordability levels ever based on the ratio of mortgage carrying costs to household income.”
“While the situation isn’t as dire in other regions of the country—in fact, many markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and some in Atlantic Canada still look reasonably affordable—the rapidly deteriorating trend is universal,” said RBC.
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average home price increased by
2.4 percent in 2022. This followed a
21.3 percent increase in 2021 and a
12.9 percent increase in 2020.
“In the real world, when you fail at your job you might get the boot, not a big bonus,” Mr. Terrazzano said. “Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid government executives and bureaucrats taking big bonuses.”
The CTF said in 2022 that nine CMHC executive committee members received an average of $697,667 each, citing its 2022 annual
report—stating it’s an increase of $23,556 each over 2021.
According to data presented in its annual reports, the total annual remuneration awarded to CMHC executives has risen by $721,000 over the past five years.
