The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation dished out almost $27 million in bonuses in 2022 and the average compensation paid to its executives rose to $697,667. 

“If the CMHC’s number one goal is housing affordability, then it doesn’t make sense to shower employees with bonuses and balloon its C-suite compensation while Canadians can’t afford to buy a home,” Franco Terrazzano, CTF’s Federal Director, said. “This is another example of the government rewarding failure with taxpayer-funded bonuses.” 

In total, the CMHC handed out $75 million in bonuses since the beginning of 2020, as the country battled a housing affordability crisis and first-time home buyers struggled to break into the marketplace. 

The average bonus paid to CMHC employees in 2022 was $11,700. 

Internal CMHC records obtained by the CTF reveal more than 90 per cent of the federal Crown corporation’s staff have taken home an annual bonus in recent years.

The CMHC is “driven by one goal: housing affordability for all,” according to its website. 

Polling from Ipsos and Global News shows 63 per cent of Canadians who don’t own a home have “given up” on ever owning one. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said home ownership in Canada is “only for the rich.” 

Last fall, the Royal Bank of Canada reported that “buying a home has never been so unaffordable.” 

The average home price increased by 2.4 per cent in 2022, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. This followed a 21 per cent increase in 2021 and a 13 per cent increase in 2020. 

“In the real world, when you fail at your job you might get the boot, not a big bonus,” Terrazzano said. “Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid government executives and bureaucrats taking big bonuses.” 

The average compensation for the CMHC nine executive committee members in 2022 was $697,667, according to its 2022 annual report – a $23,556 increase over 2021. 

The total annual compensation paid to the CMHC’s executives increased $721,000 in the last five years, according to data provided in its annual reports. 

There are now 931 CMHC staffers that receive more than $100,000 in annual salary, according to documents obtained by the CTF through a separate access-to-information request. 

In the past five years, the number of CMHC staffers taking six-figure annual salaries has grown by 199 employees, or 27 per cent.

In Budget 2023, the federal government said it plans to work with Crown corporations to “ensure they achieve comparable spending reductions, which would account for an estimated $1.3 billion over four years starting in 2024-25, and $450 million ongoing.”

“Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland should find savings by ending the bonuses at failing Crown corporations and taking some air out of CMHC’s ballooning C-suite,” Terrazzano said.