Toronto (Canada), January 2 (EFECOM).- Only in the first hours of 2024, one of the 100 largest CEOs in Canada earned 60,000 Canadian dollars (41,124 euros), or as much money as the annual salary of 'an average worker in the country. the country, according to a study published this Tuesday.

According to data from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the average compensation received by the country's top 100 CEOs is $7,162 per hour, so in just over eight hours, they earned as much as a half of worker would get during the year 2024.

David Macdonald, senior economist at CCPA, explained in a statement that these executives earn 246 times more than the average worker in the country, a record proportion that exceeds the previous maximum, 243, reached in 2021.

Macdonald added that in 2022, on average, the country's top 100 executives earned C$14.9 million per year.

The CCPA economist also pointed out that the country's top executives directly benefit from the high inflation that Canada has experienced for more than two years, because their financial remuneration is linked to company profits and is less dependent on the salaries they receive. .

In 2022, the average increase in workers' wages was 3%, lower than that year's inflation, which reached 6.8%. In contrast, the salary increase received by executives was 4.4%, which, although lower than inflation, had a different effect for the country's CEOs.

“In 2021 and 2022, inflation and corporate profits have soared. And as a direct result, CEO bonuses have also reached unprecedented highs as companies have benefited from high prices,” CCPA explained.

The Ottawa-based think tank has proposed that the Canadian government create a new tax bracket for high-income earners and impose a wealth tax, among other measures, to reduce inequality between top executives and workers.

“CEO pay continues to rise without limits. Taxes could be the necessary check,” Macdonald said. EFECOM

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