This is a ranking of compensation in fiscal 2024 for the chief executive officers from the 100 largest public companies (by market capitalization) in Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX composite index as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Prepared by Global Governance Advisors, the information comes from management information circulars filed for fiscal year 2024.

CEO pay rose almost 20 per cent last year as executives benefited from strong stock market

The Methodology

The compensation information is taken from each company’s most recent management information circular. Some companies have a fiscal year that does not end on Dec. 31, 2024; references to “2024” in this methodology include these companies.

If a company does not have a CEO, the president or a similar top executive is used. When CEOs have changed during the year, the chart typically shows the CEO who was in place for the larger portion of the year.

For companies that report pay in U.S. dollars, the amounts are converted to Canadian dollars at the average annual exchange rate for 2024. If the company has an irregular year-end, the exchange rate is the rate used by the company for its currency conversion.

Base Salary is actual salary paid in 2024.

Bonus is the value of any annual and long-term cash incentives paid for 2024 performance, typically paid after the end of the fiscal year.

Total Cash Compensation is the sum of salary and bonus.

Per-cent Change is the change from 2023’s total salary and bonus. No number is shown if the CEO was not in the same position for all of 2023 and 2024.

All Other Compensation includes all other payments and the cash value of perquisites and benefits.

Share-Based Awards is the total value of shares, share units, trust units or similar long-term incentive plan grants in 2024.

Option-Based Awards is the estimated grant date value of new stock options awarded to the CEO in 2024, as reported by the company.

Total Stock Awards is the sum of the values of share-based awards and option-based awards.

Pension Value is the additional annual value of the pension benefit earned by the CEO in 2024.

Unexercised In-the-Money Options is the year-end value of stock options held by the CEO.

Unvested Share-Based Awards is the year-end value of share units or similar compensation that has not yet met time or performance conditions required for payout.

Value of CEO’s Equity is the year-end value of common shares owned and vested stock units held by the CEO as per the company’s most recent proxy circular disclosure, valued at the end of the company’s fiscal year. This excludes unvested share units and unexercised stock options. Shareholdings may have changed since the end of the fiscal year due to subsequent grants of shares by the company or sales of stock on the open market by the CEO.

Accrued CEO Pension Obligation is the estimated year-end value of a company’s total expected cost to provide the CEO’s defined-benefit pension. It excludes the value of any defined-contribution pension accrued by the CEO.