Canada's highest-paid CEOs – what drove change at the top?

The top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada, which included insurance executives, raked in a bumper haul buoyed by bonuses in 2022.

CEO pay in Canada broke records in 2022, with average pay for the top 100 CEOs hitting $14.9 million, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). 

This was more than double the $7.4 million CEOs made on average in 2008, the inaugural year of the CCPA’s top 100 CEOs pay report.

On average, Canada’s top CEOs made the equivalent of 246 times more than the average worker, the CCPA found.

“It takes just over eight hours in the new year for the top 100 CEOs to clock in an average of $60,600—what the average worker in Canada makes in an entire year,” CCPA senior economist David McDonald said in the report. “By 9:27 a.m. on January 2, 2024, Canada’s top CEOs would have already made $60,600 while the average Canadian worker will toil all year long to earn that amount of pay.”

Who is Canada’s highest-paid CEO?

The top paid executive in Canada in 2022 was Restaurant Brands International executive chairman J Patrick Doyle, whose total compensation topped $150 million, according to the CCPA. RBI is home to Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes.

In second, legal software provider Dye & Durham global CEO and director Matthew Proud made $98 million.

Automotive supplier and manufacturer Magna International CEO Seetarama S Kotagiri rounded out the top three having made more than $36 million.

Five insurance CEOs among the top 100 highest-paid executives in Canada

Five insurance executives, representing both life insurance and property and casualty (P&C) insurance companies, made the top 100 highest-paid CEO list.

Total compensation packages awarded to insurance executives amongst the top 100 highest-paid CEOs ranged from upwards of $7 million to more than $17 million.

Between them, the five insurance executives made $55,945,000 in total, with just over half of this ($29,580,239, or 53%) coming from share-based awards, according to Insurance Business analysis of the CCPA data. In 2021, insurance executives in the top 100 made a combined $65,533,209.

Two Sun Life CEOs were represented in the 2021 rankings due to former Sun Life president and CEO Dean Connor’s retirement, with Connor’s total compensation for that year reported at $8.55 million.

The average insurance executive salary for the five top 100 rankers was $1.22 million in 2022, contributing just under 11% of average total compensation.

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada 2022 – which insurance executives made the cut?

This year saw a change at the top, with Intact CEO Charles Brindamour sliding back into second position in the insurance executive rankings. Brindamour had stood in 14th place in the overall CEO rankings for 2021, having seen a boost from a $7.8 million option-based award, set to amortize over seven years, following Intact’s RSA acquisition.

Following a bumper 2021 for Brindamour, Manulife Financial Corporation president and CEO Roy Gori jumped back into the insurance top spot for 2022, having otherwise held pole position since his appointment in 2017.

Life insurance bested P&C insurance in the rankings by three to two, with Canada Life CEO and president Paul Mahon and Sun Life president and CEO Kevin Strain both making the grade for successive years.

P&C carrier Definity’s 2021 initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) saw president and CEO Rowan Saunders leap into the top 100 for the first time to round out the 2022 top five.

No women in insurance were included in the top 100 highest-paid executive rankings, and just four made the list across all industries.

“Gender inequality remains firmly in place among CEOs: with Marks and Scotts counting four members each on the male-dominated list—there are only four women on this year’s list,” McDonald said in the report.

The top five highest paid insurance CEOs in Canada

In 2022, the top five highest-paid insurance CEOs in Canada, according to the CCPA, were:

• Roy Gori, Manulife ($17,078,534)
• Charles Brindamour, Intact Financial Corporation ($12,419,736)
• Paul Mahon, Great-West Lifeco and Canada Life ($9,943,449)
• Kevin Strain, Sun Life ($9,426,014)
• Rowan Saunders, Definity Financial Corporation ($7,077,267)

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada: Roy Gori, Manulife

Roy Gori (pictured left), Manulife Financial Corporation president and CEO, topped the list of the highest-paid insurance executives, according to Insurance Business analysis of the CCPA top 100 CEOs data.

(Credit: CNW Group/Manulife Financial Corporation)

Gori ranked 19th overall and was the only insurance executive to break into the top 20 in 2022, with total compensation of $17,078,534 for the year.

How much does Manulife president and CEO Roy Gori make?

• In 2022, Gori earned $17,078,534. This was an increase on his total compensation of $16,860,186 in 2021 and $14,697,088 in 2020.
• Gori ranked 19th on the list of the top 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada in 2022. This represented a rise on 2021, when he was 20th. In 2020, Gori was the 15th highest paid CEO.
• Gori was the top paid insurance CEO in 2022

Who is Manulife CEO Roy Gori?

Gori was named president and CEO of Manulife in 2017, having served as its president and CEO for Asia since 2015. He joined the insurance and investment management business from Citi.

Manulife, which has $1.3 trillion assets under management and administration, reported net income of $7.3 billion in 2022. The business is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Asia, Canada, Europe and under the John Hancock banner in the US.

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada: Charles Brindamour, Intact Financial Corporation

Charles Brindamour, Intact Financial Corporation CEO, was the second-highest paid insurance executive to make the top 100 highest-paid CEO list and ranked 42nd overall. This represented a slide on 2021, when he was the top paid insurance CEO and the 14th highest paid CEO overall.

Brindamour picked up $12,419,736 in total compensation for 2022, according to the CCPA top 100 CEO data.

How much does Intact CEO Charles Brindamour make?

• In 2022, Brindamour made $12,419,736. This was a decrease on his total compensation of $19,707,104 in 2021. In 2020, Brindamour’s total compensation was $10,113,249.
• Brindamour ranked 42nd on the list of the top 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada in 2022. This represented a drop on 2021, when he was 14th. In 2020, Brindamour was the 44th highest paid CEO.
• Brindamour was the second highest paid insurance CEO in 2022

Who is Intact CEO Charles Brindamour?

Brindamour was appointed president and CEO of Intact Financial Corporation in 2008, having joined the Toronto-headquartered P&C insurance company in 1992.

Intact is the largest P&C insurance company in Canada. Across its Canadian, US, UK and Irish businesses, it has over $21 billion of annual direct premiums written. Intact reported net income of $2.4 billion for 2022. In 2021, the group made its largest acquisition to date when it snapped up RSA.

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada: Paul Mahon, president and CEO, Great-West Lifeco and Canada Life

Paul Mahon (pictured right), Great-West Lifeco and Canada Life president and CEO, jumped into third position in the highest-paid insurance executive rankings.

Mahon was compensated $9,943,449 in 2022, making him the 62nd highest-paid executive in Canada, according to the CCPA top 100 CEO report. 

How much does Canada Life CEO Paul Mahon make?

• In 2022, Mahon was compensated $9,943,449. This represented an increase on 2021, when he made $9,092,151. In 2020, Mahon’s total compensation was $7,869,104.
• Mahon placed 62nd on the list of the top 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada in 2022. This was a jump up the rankings from 2021, when he was 73rd. In 2020, Mahon was the 66th highest earning CEO in Canada.
• Mahon was the third highest earning insurance executive in 2022.

Who is Canada Life CEO Paul Mahon?

Mahon was appointed president and CEO of Great-West Lifeco, GreatWest Life, London Life and Canada Life in 2013, having joined the Winnipeg-headquartered group in 1986.

Great-West Lifeco had $2.5 trillion assets under administration as of 2022 and reported earnings of $3.22 billion for the full year. The group operates across North America, Europe and Asia.

R. Jeffrey Orr, president and CEO of Power Corporation of Canada, which owns 70% of Great-West Lifeco, and Great-West Lifeco’s Empower president and CEO Edmund Murphy also made the top 100. Orr ranked 39th ($13,311,802) and Murphy placed 29th ($13,945,980).

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada: Kevin Strain, Sun Life Financial president and CEO

Sun Life president and CEO Kevin Strain (pictured below) placed fourth in the top paid insurance executive CEO rankings.

Strain’s total compensation was $9,426,014 for 2022. The life insurance company CEO was the 64th highest-paid executive in Canada for the year, according to CCPA’s rankings.

How much does Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain make?

• In 2022, Strain’s total compensation was $9,426,014. This was a decrease on 2021, when Strain made $11,327,619 in his inaugural year in the role.
• Strain placed 62nd on the list of the top 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada in 2022. This was a fall down the rankings on 2021, when Strain ranked 50th.
• Strain was the fourth highest earning insurance executive in 2022.

Who is Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain?

Strain was named president and CEO of Sun Life in 2021, following Dean Connor’s retirement from the role. Strain joined Sun Life in 2002 and has served as its chief financial officer and as president of Sun Life Asia.

Sun Life had $1.33 trillion of assets under management as of 2022 and reported a net income of $3 billion for the year. The Toronto-headquartered life insurance, wealth and benefits business is active across Canada, the US and Asia.

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada: Rowan Saunders, Definity Financial Corporation

Definity Financial Corporation president and CEO Rowan Saunders (pictured right), a newcomer to the top 100 highest-paid CEO rankings, rounded out the top five best paid insurance executives in 2022.

Saunders’ compensation hit $7,077,267 in 2022, placing him 90th out of the top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada.

How much does Definity CEO Rowan Saunders make?

• In 2022, the first year that Saunders has made the list following Definity going public in 2021, Saunders’ total compensation was $7,077,267.
• Saunders was the 90th highest earning executive in Canada for 2022
• Saunders was the fifth highest earning insurance executive in 2022.

Who is Definity CEO Rowan Saunders?

Saunders was appointed president and CEO of Economical in 2016, joining from RSA Canada where he had been president and CEO.

In 2021, Economical’s demutualisation was completed, with new parent company Definity listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) via an initial public offering.

Definity was the sixth largest P&C insurance carrier in Canada as of 2022, with $3.6 billion in gross written premiums. The insurance group reported net income of $252 million in 2022, a year in which it invested $217 million in upping its stake in insurance brokerage McDougall Insurance.

Top 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada – how were the rankings calculated?

Data for the 2022 top 100 highest-paid CEO rankings were compiled from company executive pay disclosures, inclusive of companies on the S&P and TSX composite index as of June 2022, according to the CCPA.

Proxy circulars from 234 companies were reviewed.

The rankings do not include chief operating officers or chief financial officers and many “would otherwise have made the top 100 paid list”, according to the CCPA.

The top 20 highest paid CEOs in Canada

The top 20 highest paid CEOs and executives in Canada for 2022, according to the CCPA, were:

_{Source: CCPA}

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