Richest Canadians becoming richer • Professionals receiving average bonus of 24.5 per cent of salary • Canadian regulators eye better disclosure on executive pay • Nova Scotia introduces compensation disclosure act • 83 per cent of organizations use short-term incentives
Richest Canadians becoming richer
TORONTO — Canada’s richest one per cent are taking more of the gains from economic growth than ever before in recorded history, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The Rise of Canada’s Richest 1% looks at income trends over the past 90 years and reveals the 246,000 privileged few who rank among the country’s richest one per cent took almost one-third of all growth in incomes between 1997 and 2007. “That’s a bigger piece of the action than any other generation of rich Canadians has taken,” said Armine Yalnizyan, CCPA senior economist and the report’s author. “The last time Canada’s elite held so much of the nation’s income in their hands was in the 1920s. Even then, their incomes didn’t soar as fast as they are today.” From the beginning of the Second World War to 1977, the income share of the richest one per cent dropped from 14 per cent to 7.7 per cent, found the report. By 2007, they’d made a comeback: The richest one per cent held 13.8 per cent of incomes. The study looked at the source of incomes for the richest one per cent and found 67.6 per cent of their income comes from working wages.
Professionals receiving average bonus of 24.5 per cent of salary
TORONTO — Workers in banking and finance are the most likely to receive a short-term incentive with 81 per cent receiving compensation, according to the 2010/2011 Canadian Survey Report on Professional & Skilled Trades Personnel Compensation from Towers Watson Data Services. Employees in Manitoba/Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories are the most likely to receive bonuses with 37.8 per cent and 46.3 per cent receiving incentives, respectively. Just under one-quarter of employees in large organizations (more than 2,500 full-time equivalents) received an average incentive of 29.6 per cent compared to almost one-half of the employees in smaller organizations receiving an average incentive of 10.1 per cent.
Canadian regulators eye better disclosure on executive pay
MONTREAL — Canadian securities regulators put forward a set of proposals that would make the disclosure of executive compensation clearer and more transparent, saying the requirements would benefit both investors and corporations. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said the proposals would lead to more informed investors and assist companies in fulfilling their obligations on disclosing executive compensation. Leslie Byberg, director of corporate finance at the Ontario Securities Commission, said the proposals resulted in part from a review of corporate disclosure requirements that regulators put into place a couple of years ago. The proposals also take into account recent developments on disclosure regulations in the United States by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, she said. Under the 2010 SEC Amendments, companies must show investors an analysis of risks related to the way they pay executives. Additional disclosures on equity-based awards and services provided by compensation advisers are also required. The CSA proposal would require companies to disclose to investors any risk associated with the policies used for executive compensation.
Nova Scotia introduces compensation disclosure act
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s new Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act will make government spending more transparent and accountable, said Minister of Finance Graham Steele. Highlights of the new legislation include reporting the name and amount of compensation for people working for public sector bodies who earn $100,000 or more each year. The information must be disclosed in an audited statement and be posted to a publicly accessible website. The legislation will apply to Crown corporations, agencies, boards and government business enterprises. It will also apply to any body designated in regulations. The first mandatory report under the legislation will be for the 2011-12 fiscal year. If any public sector body is ready to report before then, it may do so.
83 per cent of organizations use short-term incentives
OTTAWA — The majority of Canadian organizations have short-term incentive plans in place to motivate employees to achieve performance goals, according to a study by the Conference Board of Canada. Eighty-three per cent of 434 organizations use some form of short-term incentive plan, which can include variable pay, performance bonuses and annual incentives. “With so many organizations rewarding employees with incentive pay, organizations need to do a better job of finding a link between pay plans and business results, to ensure they are getting value out of their incentive programs,” said Karla Thorpe, associate director of compensation and industrial relations at the Conference Board of Canada. On average, firms said they expect to spend 11.6 per cent of total base pay on short-term incentives in 2011.
TORONTO — Canada’s richest one per cent are taking more of the gains from economic growth than ever before in recorded history, according to a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). The Rise of Canada’s Richest 1% looks at income trends over the past 90 years and reveals the 246,000 privileged few who rank among the country’s richest one per cent took almost one-third of all growth in incomes between 1997 and 2007. “That’s a bigger piece of the action than any other generation of rich Canadians has taken,” said Armine Yalnizyan, CCPA senior economist and the report’s author. “The last time Canada’s elite held so much of the nation’s income in their hands was in the 1920s. Even then, their incomes didn’t soar as fast as they are today.” From the beginning of the Second World War to 1977, the income share of the richest one per cent dropped from 14 per cent to 7.7 per cent, found the report. By 2007, they’d made a comeback: The richest one per cent held 13.8 per cent of incomes. The study looked at the source of incomes for the richest one per cent and found 67.6 per cent of their income comes from working wages.
Professionals receiving average bonus of 24.5 per cent of salary
TORONTO — Workers in banking and finance are the most likely to receive a short-term incentive with 81 per cent receiving compensation, according to the 2010/2011 Canadian Survey Report on Professional & Skilled Trades Personnel Compensation from Towers Watson Data Services. Employees in Manitoba/Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories are the most likely to receive bonuses with 37.8 per cent and 46.3 per cent receiving incentives, respectively. Just under one-quarter of employees in large organizations (more than 2,500 full-time equivalents) received an average incentive of 29.6 per cent compared to almost one-half of the employees in smaller organizations receiving an average incentive of 10.1 per cent.
Canadian regulators eye better disclosure on executive pay
MONTREAL — Canadian securities regulators put forward a set of proposals that would make the disclosure of executive compensation clearer and more transparent, saying the requirements would benefit both investors and corporations. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said the proposals would lead to more informed investors and assist companies in fulfilling their obligations on disclosing executive compensation. Leslie Byberg, director of corporate finance at the Ontario Securities Commission, said the proposals resulted in part from a review of corporate disclosure requirements that regulators put into place a couple of years ago. The proposals also take into account recent developments on disclosure regulations in the United States by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, she said. Under the 2010 SEC Amendments, companies must show investors an analysis of risks related to the way they pay executives. Additional disclosures on equity-based awards and services provided by compensation advisers are also required. The CSA proposal would require companies to disclose to investors any risk associated with the policies used for executive compensation.
Nova Scotia introduces compensation disclosure act
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s new Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act will make government spending more transparent and accountable, said Minister of Finance Graham Steele. Highlights of the new legislation include reporting the name and amount of compensation for people working for public sector bodies who earn $100,000 or more each year. The information must be disclosed in an audited statement and be posted to a publicly accessible website. The legislation will apply to Crown corporations, agencies, boards and government business enterprises. It will also apply to any body designated in regulations. The first mandatory report under the legislation will be for the 2011-12 fiscal year. If any public sector body is ready to report before then, it may do so.
83 per cent of organizations use short-term incentives
OTTAWA — The majority of Canadian organizations have short-term incentive plans in place to motivate employees to achieve performance goals, according to a study by the Conference Board of Canada. Eighty-three per cent of 434 organizations use some form of short-term incentive plan, which can include variable pay, performance bonuses and annual incentives. “With so many organizations rewarding employees with incentive pay, organizations need to do a better job of finding a link between pay plans and business results, to ensure they are getting value out of their incentive programs,” said Karla Thorpe, associate director of compensation and industrial relations at the Conference Board of Canada. On average, firms said they expect to spend 11.6 per cent of total base pay on short-term incentives in 2011.
