The gap between average worker wages and Canada’s top-paid CEOs widened to a record in 2024, according to a new report that pushes for higher taxes on the wealthiest.

Average compensation for the 100 best-paid chief executives hit $16.2 million in the year, surpassing the previous record of $14.9 million in 2022, said the report out Friday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The record pay led to widening inequality: The average pay for those 100 CEOs was 248 times more than the average worker in Canada, surpassing the previous record of 246 times more in 2022. The gap has grown notably from a decade ago, when CEOs made 184 times more than the average worker.

“The rich are living the high life while regular Canadians and workers struggle with inflation,” said CCPA senior economist David Macdonald in a statement accompanying the report.

On average, the top CEOs made $7,812 an hour in 2024, allowing them to make the $65,548 annual pay of the average worker by 9:23 a.m. on Jan. 2, by Macdonald’s calculations.

Executive compensation is increasingly tied to company profit and revenue rather than base salary, so a bumper year for corporate Canada helped lead to the record.

Canadian corporate profits stood at $630 billion in 2024, well up from pre-pandemic levels of $400 million, said the report, though below 2022’s banner year of $668 billion.

Part of the increase is from growth in the market, but it’s also tied to higher margins as companies raised prices, said Macdonald.

“Every company says, ‘We’re just covering our costs, we’re not making anything out of this,’” he said in an interview. “But that’s straight up false. Corporate Canada has enjoyed a great boom in profits as a result of inflation.”

While there isn’t yet complete data for 2025, the year also looked to be robust on the profit side despite trade tensions. Macdonald said this past year is likely to be a new all-time high for profits, at least before adjusting for inflation, as well as potentially new records for CEO pay.

For 2024, the highest-paid CEO was Shopify Inc.’s Tobi Lutke, who took home $205.5 million in total compensation. His pay was entirely linked to stock and options awards as his base salary is a single dollar.

The top 100 paid also included five women, the highest number yet on the list. The number of female CEOs was higher than the number of men named John on the list for the first time, though it tied with the number of Scotts.

Among the other top-paid CEOs were Jay Hennick, head of Colliers International Group Inc. at $70.3 million, Patrick Dovigi of GFL Environmental Inc. at $67 million and Glenn Chamandy of Gildan Activewear Inc. at $36.9 million.

Given the widening gap between the highest earners and average workers, Macdonald argued Canada should consider higher taxes on the richest, either through a millionaire’s tax or a wealth tax.

A millionaire’s tax would mean a slightly higher tax rate on anything earned over a million dollars. Macdonald noted in the report that the highest marginal tax rates are currently around 50 per cent, depending on the province, while they ran close to 80 per cent in the 1950s and 1960s.

A wealth tax of one per cent on anyone with $10 million in net assets, and three per cent on assets over $100 million, could raise over $20 billion a year.

The higher tax on income would be much simpler to administer than a wealth tax, but government shouldn’t shy away from considering it all the same, he said.

“The possible gains in terms of revenue for the federal government are tremendous, and it would target a very few number of people.”

However, the most recent and notable move to change taxes on high earners did not last long amid significant pushback.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s move to raise the share of capital gains that are taxed like regular income to two-thirds drew fierce criticism, especially from the tech sector, saying it would make Canada less competitive. Prime Minister Mark Carney cancelled the measure last March.

A smaller, earlier measure to limit the tax benefits available to the wealthiest remains in place. The 2021 change capped the level of gains from stock options that could be discounted from earnings. The move, however, has led to a shift toward direct share awards, said Macdonald.

He said that while the capital gains rate would only go up for those who had more than $250,000 in a year, too many people saw themselves as potentially paying it, something that’s less of an issue for the highest-earner taxes he’s pushing for.

“A wealth tax or a millionaire’s tax is a way to have folks, that have far more money than they need, help to provide the basic services that everybody else needs, while excluding the vast majority of the population.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2026.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press