CBC Scraps Executive and Staff Bonuses, Increases Salaries as Compensation

The CBC-Radio Canada building is seen in Montreal on Jan. 28, 2021. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

CBC/Radio-Canada has announced it will no longer give out millions of dollars in executive and employee bonuses, but will increase salaries to “attract and retain the talent it requires to be successful.”

The public broadcaster’s board of directors made the decision to eliminate what it describes as “performance pay” after receiving the “advice and concurrence” of president and CEO Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CBC said in a May 14 statement. It will, however, adjust the salaries of affected staff to ensure they are compensated.

“In order to keep overall compensation at the current median level, salaries of those affected will be adjusted to reflect the elimination of individual performance pay,” the board said in its statement.

The move comes after the CBC/Radio-Canada board of directors was criticized for paying out more than $18.4 million in bonuses for nearly 1,200 employees, managers, and executives for the 2023-2024 fiscal year after the public broadcaster eliminated hundreds of jobs.

An independent review conducted by consulting firm Mercer Canada was released last week regarding the compensation of non-union employees, which includes top executives. The review found that while salaries at the CBC typically correspond with those of other firms and private sector entities, the bonuses have “faced scrutiny.”

Mercer recommended that should CBC eliminate its performance-based incentive program, and the broadcaster should take steps to maintain compensation at the “midpoint of the market.”

“While CBC/Radio-Canada’s incentive targets are generally conservative relative to market, removing incentives altogether would position CBC/Radio-Canada’s compensation below market,” the report said.

“CBC/Radio-Canada should be mindful of not falling below market if it wants to retain and recruit the expertise and talent it needs to deliver on the organization’s national mandate.”

The Epoch Times contacted CBC for comment on its new pay structure and when it will be implemented but did not receive a response by publication time.

CBC Payouts and Funding

Opposition parties and government committees have been critical of the public broadcaster in recent years for awarding substantial bonuses to executives despite ongoing staff layoffs.

The broadcaster paid out $18.4 million in bonuses to 1,194 employees for the 2023-24 fiscal year with more than $3.3 million of the amount paid to 45 executives.

On average, the executives would have received a bonus of more than $73,000 each, an amount that surpasses the median family income after taxes in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

More than $10.4 million was paid out to 631 managers and 518 other employees received approximately $4.6 million.

Former CEO Catherine Tait was criticized by MPs on a parliamentary committee last year for not dismissing the option of accepting a bonus for herself despite the broadcaster laying off employees to help balance its budget. She was summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee last fall to answer questions on budgets and spending.

It was not the first time Tait was compelled to testify at a House of Commons committee. She was also called to testify last January after CBC announced a month earlier that approximately 600 CBC and Radio-Canada jobs would be eliminated and roughly 200 job vacancies left unfilled, due to a $125 million budget shortfall.

Tait told the Heritage Committee the CBC faced “chronic underfunding” and had to “stretch limited resources” to meet its mandate. Her testimony came after CBC executives received a combined $14.9 million in bonuses for fiscal year 2022-2023, with all 46 network executives receiving more than $3 million in bonuses and another 1,140 managers receiving $11.8 million.

The news organization is set to receive $1.4 billion in subsidies from the federal government for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, an increase from the $1.3 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a plan during the federal election campaign to increase the public broadcaster’s budget by $150 million and update its mandate.

Part of the revamp would be “fully equipping” CBC/Radio-Canada to “combat disinformation, so that Canadians have a news source they know they can trust,” Carney said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has long pledged to defund the CBC and “let Canadians enjoy it as a non-profit, self-funded organization,” but said he would keep the funding for Radio-Canada.