Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNewsCanada$31M in bonuses last year at Housing Corporation: Canadian Taxpayers Federation'Your C-suite shouldn’t be taking millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses while Canadians can’t afford homes,' says group's federal director You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.A home for sale in Windsor, Ont., is shown on April 7, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /PostmediaThe Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) handed out more than $31 million in bonuses last year to 79 executives and more than three-quarters of its total workforce, according to government information reviewed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe data comes in response to a question asked in the House of Commons in April by Andrew Scheer, Conservative Member of Parliament for Regina–Qu’Appelle.Scheer had asked for information on bonuses awarded at each Crown corporation for the 2025-26 fiscal year, broken down by percentage of officials both at and below the executive level who received bonuses, and their amounts.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againSome organizations, such as the Canada Council for the Arts and CBC/Radio-Canada, said they do not award bonuses, while others said the information was not yet available.However, the CMHC said it had awarded $31,720,451 in bonuses for the year to 79 people at or above the executive level, and 2,371 people below that level.The executives received a total of $3,545,057, for an average of almost $45,000 each, while those below the executive level took home $28,175,394, an average of almost $12,000 per person.The Crown corporation also noted that the lower echelon of those receiving bonuses constituted 77.76 per cent of the employees at that level. It did not say what percentage of executives received bonuses, citing the Privacy Act and noting: “Certain information which could be used to identify a small number of individuals has been withheld on the grounds that the information constitutes personal information.”However, CMHC previously disclosed that about 99 per cent of its executives took a bonus in 2024-25. Canadian Taxpayers Federation director Franco Terrazzano. Photo by Handout /Canadian Taxpayers FederationIn a news release, the CTF pointed out the irony of such bonuses from an organization whose stated mandate is “to promote housing affordability and choice, facilitate access to, and competition and efficiency in the provision of, housing finance, protect the availability of adequate funding for housing at low cost, and generally contribute to the well-being of the housing sector in the national economy.”Ahmed Hussen, the federal minister of housing and diversity and inclusion from 2021 to 2023, added in his forward to the CMHC’s 2022-2026 Corporate Plan Summary that the document “is built on an ambitious goal — housing affordability for all.”“If your organization’s goal is making homes affordable, your C-suite shouldn’t be taking millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses while Canadians can’t afford homes,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF’s federal director. “The housing minister promised to review CMHC bonuses years ago and the CMHC has handed out bigger taxpayer-funded bonuses every year since.”Coleen Volk, president and CEO of CMHC, has said housing supply remained one of Canada’s biggest challenges last year, adding: “CMHC rose to meet this challenge head-on, putting all the organization’s tools to work to make an impact in communities across the country.”“CMHC executives have a pattern of rewarding their own failure with taxpayers’ money,” the CTF said in its release, noting that executive pay at the corporation rose to an average of $697,667 per executive in 2022, up from $617,556 four years earlier, an almost 13 per cent increase.Asked about bonuses by Members of Parliament in 2023, former housing minister Sean Fraser said he was “happy to review the process by which bonuses are provided,” though he added: “I am very hesitant to have elected officials interfere with the independence of the public service when it comes to the appropriate compensation for public servants.”The CMHC website includes what it says is “one heck of an aspirational goal: by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs.”Terrazzano begs to differ. “If bureaucrats taking bonuses made homes more affordable, every Canadian would own a home with an in-ground pool plus a cottage at the lake,” he said. “Canadians need more homes, not more highly paid pencil pushers rubber-stamping bonuses for each other.”He points to a 2025 poll from Abacus Data that described housing affordability as “a crisis everyone feels.” It found that nearly nine in 10 Canadians are worried about the state of housing and that most Canadians, at least occasionally, worry about being able to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments.“Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to end Ottawa’s government entitlement culture because every year government executives take taxpayer-funded bonuses even when their organization fails,” Terrazzano said. “Bonuses are for when you go above and beyond, they shouldn’t be handed out like participation ribbons.”Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. 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