Canada's 100 highest-paid CEOs shattered records regarding their salaries in 2022, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

David Macdonald, Chief Economist, said: "The data this year breaks all-time highs."

The organization's annual report concluded that CEOs, most of whom are men, earned an average of $14.9 million, compared to an average of $14.3 million in 2021.

This equates to $7,162 per hour, which is 246 times more than what an average Canadian worker earns, and the report mentioned that before the end of the second day of the new year, the average CEO has already earned the average annual salary of a worker.

This gap widened in 2022, as the average worker saw a 3 percent wage increase while CEOs' wages rose on average by 4.4 percent, meanwhile, the report said prices increased by 6.8 percent that year.

Macdonald added: "This is largely related to what happened to corporate profits in 2022, similar to what happened in 2021, it’s a similar story where inflation leads to increased profits, profits lead to bonuses, and CEOs reap the rewards."

He continued that the CCPA has been tracking CEO pay for about a decade and a half, noting that in the early days of the report, CEOs earned nearly 150 times what the average earns.

Macdonald said most CEO pay does not come in the form of salaries, but as bonuses, company stock, and stock options – in fact, some CEOs do not receive any salary at all.

Macdonald pointed out that in mid-2021, a cap was set on the tax deduction for stock options at $200,000, and possibly as a result, granting stocks recently became a larger part of CEO compensation.

The report covers the salaries of current and former Canadian CEOs in 2022 as well as CEOs, a position higher than CEO.

The CCPA report stated that at the top of the list is CEO J. Patrick Doyle of Restaurant Brands International Inc.

The report mentioned that Doyle, who owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes, earned $151.8 million in 2022, with his salary exclusively in the form of stock-based awards and options.

Coming in second was CEO Matthew Proud of Dye & Durham Ltd, who earned $98.9 million solely through bonuses.

CEO Sitarama (Swami) Kotagiri of Magna International Inc. came in third by a wide margin, earning $36.4 million through a mix of salary, bonuses, and non-share incentive plan compensation.

The list includes leaders from a variety of sectors including finance, technology, energy, communications, and health, with the report listing only four women among the highest earners.

Macdonald said the gap between the average CEO salary and the average worker wage is highest in Ontario, which houses nearly half of the people on the top 100 company list, where the highest-paid CEOs earn 298 times the average worker wage in Ontario, or $18.5 million.

The report recommends establishing new top income tax brackets, removing companies’ ability to deduct wages exceeding one million dollars, introducing a wealth tax, and increasing the capital gains inclusion rate.

Macdonald said that although executive compensation is supposed to be linked to company performance, the weakening economy in 2023 does not necessarily mean CEO salaries will gradually weaken, adding that profits were lower in 2023, but companies have historically found other reasons to compensate CEOs.