Last year, Canadian federal executives secured more than $200 million in bonuses, even though many fell short of their own performance targets.
Access‑to‑information records reveal that roughly 88 percent of eligible leaders received extra payments through performance, at‑risk, and bilingual bonus schemes.
A federal director of a taxpayer advocacy group criticized what he described as an entitlement culture, arguing that bonuses should reward genuine achievement rather than routine payroll status.
Government data show that only about 54 percent of performance targets were met across the public service.
Canada Post, a Crown corporation that routinely receives federal bailouts, awarded its top executives and managers a little over $30 million in bonuses.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation distributed $31.7 million in taxpayer‑funded bonuses to employees during a period of housing market strain.
Alto, the Crown corporation overseeing a high‑speed rail project, handed out $2.8 million in bonuses to its staff earlier this year.
Advocates call for a reduction in government spending, urging leaders to eliminate unnecessary executive bonuses to make public services more affordable for Canadians.
