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Canadian CEOs Will Earn An Average Worker's Annual Salary By Morning Of Jan. 2

CEO salaries are on the rise, widening the gap between the rich and poor.
denozy via Getty Images

By 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the average Canadian CEO will have earned the average worker's entire annual salary, according to a new report.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' (CCPA) annual report on executive pay in Canada showed CEO salaries are on the rise, widening the gap between the rich and poor. The report looked at CEO pay in Canada in 2016.

"Canadian CEOs are again taking home pre-2008-crisis levels of compensation, pushing the income gap between Canada's top executives and the average worker to new highs," the report read.

'Loudest critics' of minimum wage hike

The average minimum wage worker would have to work up to a month and a half to earn what the lowest-earning CEO in the top 100 made.

Ontario and Alberta are on track to increase their minimum wage to $15 an hour. But at that rate it would still take a worker a month to accumulate an hour's earnings for the poorest of the top 100 CEOs.

CCPA senior economist and report author David Macdonald pointed out that CEOs were among the "loudest critics" of the wage hike, while the highest paid executives were earning "record-breaking" salaries.

CEOs are making 316 times more than someone who makes fifteen dollars an hour.David Macdonald, CCPA senior economist

"CEOs are making 316 times more than someone who makes fifteen dollars an hour," Macdonald said in a release.

"If shareholders can afford this year's CEO pay hike, they should absolutely be endorsing higher wages at the bottom as well."

Canada's 100 richest CEOs are also earning more. The minimum pay required to make the top 100 list jumped from $3.7 million in 2015 to $5.2 million in 2016.

And unsurprisingly, the gender gap in executive pay persists. Only three women made it to the top 100 CEO rankings in 2016, up from two the year before.

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