The prospect of Canadians struggling with a worsening housing crisis has not stopped the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation from dishing out generous bonuses to 98% of its workforce last year.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued a press release on Thursday, highlighting access-to-information records, which showed that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation issued over $27 million in bonuses in 2023.
The bonuses in 2023 push the total amount received in bonuses since the beginning of 2020 by CMHC employees to $102 million.
Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, criticized the bonuses, questioning their alignment with the CMHC’s 2023-2027 corporate plan’s primary goal which called for “housing affordability for all.”
“Why is the CMHC patting itself on the back and showering its staff with bonuses when Canadians can’t afford homes?” asked Terrazzano.
Last year, the CTF showed that the corporation paid almost $27 million in bonuses in 2022.
Terrazzano also posted a video to X, pleading that anyone sick and tired of hearing the same story send a letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, asking her to “stop rewarding failing bureaucrats with taxpayer-funded bonuses.”
He highlighted that home prices had increased substantially year-over-year since 2020, leading nearly 70% of Canadians to say that homeownership was only for the wealthy.
The federation revealed that over 2,283 CMHC staff members took home a bonus last year, amounting to taxpayers paying them $27.2 million, with the average bonus being approximately $11,800.
The corporation’s ten executives received $4.1 million in total compensation in 2023, including $3.1 million in salary and $831,000 in bonuses. Executives also received $211,000 in other benefits.
On top of the bonuses, over 2,000 staff members, 89% of the CMHC got a pay raise in 2023. The CTF revealed that not one CMHC employee received a pay decrease.
1,073 CMHC employees possess a six-figure salary, increasing 15% from 2022. The six-figure salaries alone cost taxpayers $140 million in 2023.
Terrazzano told True North that the CTF will continue digging up and highlighting wasteful spending by the federal government.
“Canadians deserve to know this information,” he said.
Terrazzano said that holding the government to account will persist if the Conservatives form government.
“We’ve also seen [the] Conservative Party Leader say he will end the bonuses for failing government authorities, and we will hold him to that if he forms government,” he said.
The Conservative Party issued a press release on the same day as the CTF’s
“Despite constant Liberal Government photo-ops, Canada will have fewer housing starts in 2024 than in the previous year. And housing starts in 2025-2026 will still be lower than they were in 2020-2021,” said the party, highlighting the corporation’s housing market outlook.
“Already, Trudeau has overseen a 107% increase in the price of rent while down payments have also doubled. But under this Liberal Government, Canadians shouldn’t expect relief any time soon. In the same report, the CMHC predicted that ‘rents will rise and vacancy rates will fall,’ as more people compete for less housing,” added the Conservatives.
The party added that last year, the CMHC’s CEO said that the Liberals have “no plan” to fix the housing crisis.
True North reported on Wednesday that RBC said that housing affordability in Canada had reached an all-time low.
Terrazzano said that in last year’s budget, Freeland said she would find about $1 billion in savings at the Crown corporations.
“The feds need to stop rewarding failures with bonuses,” he said.
“These bonuses should be the first thing on the chopping block.”