Broadcaster's move to replace performance bonuses with higher pay sparks debate, but CBC says it’s 'market-aligned on total remuneration'
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has come under fire after awarding $37.7 million in pay raises to employees for 2024-25, despite cancelling its taxpayer-funded bonus program.
According to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), the average raise for 6,295 employees was about $6,000 each, with no pay cuts reported.
This marks a significant jump from the $11.5 million in raises handed out the previous year.
Replacing bonuses with raises
Franco Terrazzano, CTF’s Federal Director, didn’t mince words: “The CBC isn’t saving people money if it’s replacing taxpayer-funded bonuses with higher taxpayer-funded pay raises.”
He argued that the move was a “sleight of hand” and that Canadians are still footing a hefty bill, regardless of whether the extra pay is called a bonus or a raise.
The CBC’s decision to cancel bonuses came after widespread criticism and polling that showed most Canadians opposed the payouts. Even Friends of Canadian Media, a group that supports public broadcasting, called the previous $18 million in bonuses “deeply out of touch and unbefitting of our national public broadcaster.”
CBC ends individual performance pay
The CBC’s Board of Directors announced in May 2025 that it would end individual performance pay but continue to set individual and corporate objectives and to measure performance.
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,” said the CBC in its May statement.
The Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP), or performance pay, was focused on short-term competitive targets like generating revenue or annual digital reach, said the CBC.
“Progress on longer-term public service goals, like improving CBC/Radio-Canada’s value to all citizens and strengthening Canadian culture, are more difficult to measure in one year.”
Substantial salary growth—especially at the top
One area that’s drawn particular attention is the growth in six-figure salaries at CBC. In 2024-25, 1,831 employees earned over $100,000, costing taxpayers about $240 million—an average of $131,060 each, says the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation.
That’s a 17% jump in just one year, and a 318% increase since 2015, when only 438 employees made six figures.
Terrazzano called on the government to intervene: “If Prime Minister Mark Carney is serious about saving money, then he needs to step in and put an end to the CBC gravy train. Or better yet, Carney should defund the CBC.”
Keeping compensation ‘market aligned’ at CBC
The move to end individual performance pay followed an independent review by Mercer which found that CBC’s total compensation was “in line with the middle (50th percentile) of compensation for employees in our peer group of media, private and public organizations.”
CBC/Radio-Canada is “generally market-aligned on total remuneration when all elements of compensation are considered, across all non-unionized employee groups,” said Mercer in its report. “Overall, it is:
- conservative (at or below market) on cash compensation (base salaries and target incentives)
- below market at the senior executive and executive levels at CBC/Radio-Canada for total direct compensation
- aligned with the market for the non-executive groups that were reviewed.”
The report recommended that CBC maintain compensation at the median level to attract and retain talent, especially as the media landscape evolves.
“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. 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.”
