The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) distributed nearly $27 million in bonuses, and its executives average pay increased to $697,667 in 2022..“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 Franco Terrazzano, federal director of Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF)..“This is another example of the government rewarding failure with taxpayer-funded bonuses.” .Since the start of 2020, the CMHC has given out a total of $75 million in bonuses, while the country has been dealing with a housing affordability crisis and first-time home buyers have been facing difficulties entering the market..In 2022, the average bonus given to CMHC employees was $11,700..More than 90% of the staff at the CMHC, a federal Crown corporation, have received an annual bonus in recent years, according to records obtained by the CTF..According to its website, the CMHC is focused on one primary objective. They are “driven by one goal: housing affordability for all.”.According to a survey conducted by Ipsos and Global News, 63% of Canadians who do not own a home have “given up” on ever purchasing a home. Additionally, almost 70% of the people surveyed believe that owning a home in Canada is “only for the rich.”.In the fall of 2022, the Royal Bank of Canada reported that “buying a home has never been so unaffordable.” .According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average price of homes went up by 2.4% in 2022. This comes after a 21% increase in 2021 and a 13% increase in 2020..“In the real world, when you fail at your job, you might get the boot, not a big bonus,” said Terrazzano..“Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid government executives and bureaucrats taking big bonuses.” .According to the 2022 CMHC annual report, the average compensation for the nine executive committee members in 2022 was $697,667, which is $23,556 higher than in 2021..In the last five years, according to data in its annual reports, the total annual compensation paid to the CMHC's executives increased by $721,000.. TABLE CMHC hands out $75 million in bonuses during housing affordability crisis .According to documents obtained by the CTF through a separate access-to-information request, there are currently 931 CMHC staffers who earn more than $100,000 in annual salary..The number of CMHC employees earning annual salaries in the six-figure range has increased by 199 employees over the last five years, which is a 27% increase..In Budget 2023, the federal government said it planned to work with Crown corporations to “ensure they achieve comparable spending reductions, which would account for an estimated $1.3 billion over four years starting in 2024-25 and $450 million ongoing.”.“Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland should find savings by ending the bonuses at failing Crown corporations and taking some air out of CMHC’s ballooning C-suite,” said Terrazzano.
