Share-linked awards drive CEO compensation past $10 million median for first time
A surge in share-based and equity-linked awards pushed median CEO compensation at Canada’s largest public companies above $10m for the first time in 2024, according to The Globe and Mail’s annual pay ranking with Global Governance Advisors.
Median total compensation for CEOs—including salary, bonus, stock awards, and other payments—reached $10,303,190, up 19.6 percent from 2023.
The review covered the 100 largest firms on the S&P/TSX Composite Index, with figures drawn from fiscal 2024 management information circulars.
Stock performance was a key driver, according to The Globe and Mail.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose roughly 20 percent over the year, with many CEOs exceeding performance targets, resulting in larger incentive payouts.
Global Governance Advisors reported that short-term incentive payments came in 55 percent above target on average.
Paul Gryglewicz, managing partner at the firm, stated, “We have seen these performance multipliers play out aggressively.”
The Globe and Mail reported that Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify Inc., received the highest reported pay package in 2024.
He drew just $1 in salary and no bonus but received $205.5m in total equity-based compensation—$51.4m in share-based awards and $154.1m in stock options.
Gryglewicz noted, “The application of a stock option in that circumstance, it is going to stick out by Canadian norms,” adding that such awards may be used “to have them create more earnings for themselves only when shareholders are benefitting in the future.”
While options have become less common, Lütke’s package illustrates the ongoing use of such awards in select cases.
Across the top 100 CEOs, median option-based awards in 2024 were 31 percent lower than in 2011, while share-based awards have risen 277 percent.
Those grants—typically in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs) or performance share units (PSUs)—have driven a significant portion of long-term compensation.
Other outliers included Patrick Dovigi of GFL Environmental Inc., who received $29.1m in “all other compensation,” including $11.4m in life insurance premiums.
His total reported pay included $11.8m in cash compensation and $26.1m in share-based awards.
The Globe and Mail reported that only one woman appeared in the top 50—Canadian National Railway’s CEO Tracy Robinson, who ranked 16th with $18.6m in compensation.
Overall, women represented a small portion of the top 100 pay rankings.
Pay decisions also reflected board discretion amid market volatility.
According to Hugessen Consulting managing partner Michelle Tan, 14 TSX 60 companies formally adjusted their CEO compensation policies—nine raised pay, five cut it.
Tan noted, “The fact that it is both positive and negative shows that directors are getting as close to the right decision as they can on CEO compensation.”
Despite public scrutiny, investor support for executive pay remained high.
Laulima Consulting data showed that “say on pay” resolutions received an average 93.8 percent support across 40 TSX 60 companies as of May 16.
CEO compensation has continued to rise faster than wages. Statistics Canada reported that average hourly wages grew by 3.4 percent year-over-year in May 2024.
In contrast, top CEO pay has nearly doubled since 2011.
David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said, “It goes up a lot more in good times, but what is interesting is that in bad times it doesn’t go down.”
Macdonald also noted the shift in income disparity, stating that in the 1980s CEOs earned about 50 times the average worker’s pay. That ratio is now approaching 250.
Compensation methods differ across markets.
Gryglewicz explained that Canadian firms often set targets based on relative share performance, allowing executives to earn payouts even in down markets.
US companies, by contrast, more often tie pay to absolute share price growth.
All figures in the ranking were converted to Canadian dollars using each company’s reported annual exchange rate.
When CEO transitions occurred during the year, compensation was typically reported for the individual who served the majority of the period.
