By Connie Thiessen
CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors has announced it’s discontinuing executive performance bonuses, following an independent review.
The executive bonus structure, known as the Short-Term Incentive Plan, sparked outrage in late 2023 when the Canadian Taxpayers Federation released data indicating that in 2022, the CBC paid out more than $16 million in bonuses in the face of a looming $125 million budget shortfall. Catherine Tait, then president of the public broadcaster, went on to defend the bonus structure before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage saying that “like every other Crown Corporation” performance pay was a key part of the total compensation for non-union staff – about 1,140 employees.
The corporation’s board of directors commissioned a review last June. Conducted by HR consulting firm Mercer, it found that overall compensation of non-unionized employees is in the middle (50th percentile), in line with its peer counterparts in media, private and public organizations.
In a statement released this week, the board said while performance pay is focused on short-term competitive targets like generating revenue or annual digital reach, arguably progress on longer-term public service goals – like improving CBC/Radio-Canada’s value to all citizens and strengthening Canadian culture – “are in many ways a more effective measure of success. They also align more closely with the priorities of public media organizations around the world.”
“To prioritize these objectives, the Board of Directors, with the advice and concurrence of the President and CEO [Marie-Phillipe Bouchard], has decided to discontinue individual performance pay as part of the overall compensation earned by eligible employees of CBC/Radio-Canada,” the statement said. “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.”
“CBC/Radio-Canada will continue to set individual and corporate objectives and measure performance, but performance targets will no longer be used to determine part of individual compensation.”
