Top housing bureaucrat says exec bonuses cannot be disclosed
The average bonus paid to housing executives ($83,000) with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation surpassed the average annual salary of Canadians ($64,800).
Canada’s leading housing executive says bonuses for high-ranking bureaucrats are a secret, and should not be disclosed publicly.
“It is confidential,” testified Coleen Volk, the $551,000-a year CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Parliament launched a 10-year, $40 billion housing strategy in 2017 to address housing affordability, whose costs more than doubled to $89 billion in 2022.
During this period, the average bonus paid to housing executives surpassed the average annual salary of Canadians, reported Blacklock’s.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) continues its mission to uncover government waste, revealing that federal executives took home $1.3 billion in bonuses between 2015 and 2022.https://t.co/F0Q09URdzA
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) June 15, 2023
“The average salary of your executives would be approximately $311,000, does that sound correct?” asked Conservative MP Tracy Gray. “For executives that sounds in the right ballpark,” replied Volk.
“The average executive bonus would be approximately $83,000, does that sound correct?” asked MP Gray. “Well, we don’t call them bonuses,” replied Volk.
The Corporation CEO refused disclosure of 2023 executive records Tuesday, citing privacy laws. “It is personal and confidential.” The average Canadian salary that year was $64,800.
She also believes how the agency determines competitive salaries cannot be disclosed, also citing privacy laws.
“Will 2024 executive bonuses be higher or lower?” asked MP Gray. “We don’t pay bonuses,” replied Volk. “We have incentive pay but it’s a very different pay structure. It’s a different philosophy.”
Parliament launched a 10-year, $40 billion national housing strategy in 2017 that doubled costs to $89 billion. In addition, the CMHC has charged taxpayers $75 million in bonuses since 2020.https://t.co/qoMW22fDpx
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) July 26, 2023
According to its 2022 annual report, the average compensation for nine CMHC executives was $697,667 — a $23,556 increase over 2021. The total annual compensation paid to executives increased by $721,000 since 2017, when the housing strategy began.
Meanwhile, the number of Canadians in need of affordable housing is trending in the wrong direction, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
Since 2017, 662,000 more Canadian households now face a “core housing need,” or 2.4 million total, reported the Canadian Press. Those with “core housing need” include families spending more than 30% of their gross income on household expenses.
The PBO says interest rates are partly to blame for higher mortgages, rendering homeownership unattainable for many Canadians, including existing homeowners with expiring mortgages.
Though the policy interest rate has been cut in 2024, with subsequent cuts expected, the average interest rate for outstanding mortgages is expected to remain higher than in 2017, the report said.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Statistics Canada, the country needs 3.5 million new units by 2030 to have affordable housing.
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) July 18, 2023
MORE: https://t.co/OX3XnahB5d pic.twitter.com/sKEbYFKQ90
The Conservatives took aim at the Liberals and the NDP this week, referring to the housing shortage as “housing hell.”
“Justin Trudeau promised to fix the core housing need of 530,000 households by 2027. But instead, things are only getting worse,” a Conservative spokesperson told the Canadian Press.
The CMHC aimed to reduce the “core housing need” by 580,000 households over the next four years, but is nowhere near reaching that goal. The Budget Officer says 926,000 households face an imminent need for affordable housing.
“Home prices in Canada are out of control. And the bureaucrats you pay to keep your homes affordable … are too busy to do their one job because they have to keep cashing in their big bonus cheques,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“Almost 70% of Canadians say homeownership is only for the rich. But it doesn't matter here at the CMHC because it's bonus time,” he added.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
COMMENTS
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2024-12-14 01:04:14 -0500How come incompetent bureaucrats like her manage to command such high salaries? Don’t believe me? Guess how much Deena Hinshaw and her deputy Verna Yu were each drawing in pay. By firing the two of them, Danielle Smith saved Albertans around a million smackers a year. -
Bruce Atchison commented 2024-12-13 21:15:01 -0500Government executives work for us, the taxpayers. How dare they declare their salaries and bonuses privileged information! We pay them so we deserve to know what they make. Would you hand a contractor a blank cheque? Of course not. Neither should these overpaid executives be immune to scrutiny.
