Tobias Lütke of Shopify Inc. has been crowned Canada's highest-paid CEO in 2024. (Photo: Canadian Press)

By David Opinko

Canada’s top CEOs made 248 times the average worker

Jan 2, 2026 | 9:50 AM

A new report claims that 2024 was a record year for CEO pay in Canada.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) states that Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs made 248 times as much money as the average worker in that year, setting a new record.

CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald says they brought in an average of $16.2 million in total compensation in 2024.

“The top CEOs make $7,812 an hour, so it only takes a little over eight hours to make the $65,548 annual pay of the average worker. By January 2 at 9:23 a.m., those CEOs had already gotten what the average worker makes in a year,” says Macdonald. “The rich are living the high life while regular Canadians and workers struggle with inflation.”

Since 2020, the CCPA reports that CEO pay has increased by 49 per cent, while the average worker has made just 15 per cent more.

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Approximately 84.3 per cent of compensation for the top CEOs was based on bonuses, which can take the form of stock options, cash bonuses, or other types.

The highest-paid CEO in the country in 2024 was Tobias Lütke of Shopify Inc., who received over $205 million in total compensation. Except for his one-dollar salary, all of his money came from shares and option-based awards.

Jay S. Hennick, the Chairman and CEO of Colliers International Group Inc., was the second-highest paid at more than $70 million.

Third place went to Patrick Dovigi of GFL Environmental Inc., who took home $67 million.

At the bottom of the top-100 list was Cyrus Madon of Brookfield Business Partners LP, who had nearly $7.2 million in 2024 earnings.

The CCPA, a left-leaning think tank, has recommended that the federal government implement a millionaire’s tax and a wealth tax.

You can see the full report at policyalternatives.ca