The salaries for the chief executive officers (CEOs) at Canada’s five largest banks rose an average of 28% as earnings and share prices steadily increased last year.
Total direct compensation for bank CEOs climbed to a combined $51.3 million in fiscal 2021, which ended on October 31 of last year.
The bump for CEOs beats the 18% average increase in variable pay that the banks doled out to their employees last year, and the 6.3% gain in total compensation per employee in 2021.
Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay had the largest pay package at $15.5 million. The bank, Canada’s largest by market value and revenue, had a 40% increase in income -- to $16.1 billion -- during the year.
Net income for Canada’s five largest banks rose 39% to a combined $54.5 billion in fiscal 2021.
Darryl White, the CEO of Bank of Montreal, had the biggest pay increase, at 37%. The lender’s shares rose 69% during the 2021 fiscal year, the best performance in the S&P/TSX Commercial Banks Index, which rose 50% last year.
