Federal taxpayers paid out nearly $2.8 million in bonuses to executives and employees at the Crown corporation overseeing Ottawa's proposed high-speed rail project despite construction not being expected to begin for years, according to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.The records, released through an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Andrew Scheer, show Alto paid $2.8 million in bonuses between Jan. 1 and July 16, 2025."Why do these train executives think they deserve huge taxpayer-funded bonuses when they haven't laid a single metre of track?" asked Franco Terrazzano, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's federal director."Government bureaucrats don't deserve bonuses before they finish their work, so they definitely don't deserve bonuses before they even start their work."According to the records, all 18 Alto executives received bonuses totalling approximately $1.2 million, averaging about $68,500 each. The Crown corporation also paid roughly $1.5 million in bonuses to its 116 non-executive employees.Alto was created to oversee the federal government's planned high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. However, the project remains in its early planning stages.According to Alto's website, track construction is not expected to begin before 2029. The corporation has also not finalized the exact route the rail line will follow."We don't have a very precise alignment to start," Alto chief executive officer Martin Imbleau told CBC..Despite the project's early stage, Alto is expected to cost taxpayers $597 million during the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to federal Main Estimates. The Crown corporation estimates the full project could cost as much as $90 billion.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation argues the payouts reflect a broader culture of bonuses throughout the federal bureaucracy."Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to end Ottawa's entitlement culture because it seems like government executives think they deserve bonuses just for showing up to work twice a week with their shoes tied," Terrazzano said.The federation also pointed to bonus payments at VIA Rail, the federal passenger rail service.Government records show VIA Rail distributed $10.3 million in bonuses during 2025-26. All eight executives received bonuses averaging $115,293, while 99% of non-executive employees received bonus payments totalling approximately $9.4 million.The bonus payouts come as VIA Rail continues to post substantial operating losses. According to the Crown corporation's latest annual report, taxpayers provided $1.8 billion over the past five years to cover operating shortfalls.The same report shows VIA Rail trains arrived on time only 35% of the time last year."VIA Rail executives shouldn't be taking six-figure bonuses when their Crown corporation is hemorrhaging money and relying on taxpayer bailouts," Terrazzano said.The federation also highlighted broader federal compensation trends, noting that about 98% of federal government executives received bonuses during the 2024-25 fiscal year at a cost of $201 million to taxpayers.During that same period, federal departments achieved only 54% of their stated performance targets, according to government data."The government is more than $1 trillion in debt so these taxpayer-funded bonuses for failure should be the first thing on the chopping block," Terrazzano said.
