Despite a worsening housing affordability crisis, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) handed out $30.8 million in bonuses in 2024, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) through access to information requests.

Go Ad Free

Since 2020, CMHC has approved $132 million in bonuses, even as home prices soar, and more Canadians give up on ever owning a home.

“Why are Canada’s housing bureaucrats showering themselves with bonuses when countless Canadians can’t afford homes?” asked Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the CTF. “Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid pencil pushers rubberstamping bonuses for each other.”

In 2024 alone, 91% of CMHC staff — 2,398 employees — received a bonus averaging $12,865. Twelve executives were paid nearly $1 million in bonuses, averaging $83,859 each.

That same year, CMHC issued 2,190 raises totalling $9.3 million. Not a single employee took a pay cut.

Meanwhile, the Royal Bank of Canada described 2024 as the “toughest time ever to afford a home.” A poll by Ipsos found 72% of non-homeowners have given up on ever buying property, and 80% believe homeownership is “only for the rich.”

The average home price is expected to reach $722,221 in 2025, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

“The CMHC’s c-suite deserve pink slips more than huge bonuses,” said Terrazzano. “The federal government must stop rewarding failure with taxpayer-funded bonuses.”

Since 2015, Ottawa has approved $1.5 billion in bonuses despite failing to meet most performance targets.