Top CEOs have already pocketed more than most of us will make all year.

By the time you read these words, Canada’s top 100 CEOs will have already pocketed what it might take you or I the whole year to scrape together.

That’s right. By 10:54 a.m. today, these ultra-rich CEOs have already taken an average of about $63,000 – 210 times more than the typical worker, according to new research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.¹

The wealth gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us is an outrage. While we struggle under a soaring cost of living, those at the top are cashing in. And while our wages stagnate in the face of growing inflation, the minimum wage for the highest-paid CEOs was a staggering $3,255 an hour last year.

Year after year, big box groceries, oil and gas giants, pharmaceuticals, banks, and insurance companies are reaping extraordinary profits while the rest of us pay.

It’s time to make them pay.

A fair and comprehensive tax on the rich could fund public programs that we desperately need. The government could use these revenues to invest in a transition to a post-carbon economy that leaves no one behind, build more affordable homes, fix our crumbling public health system, address long-standing water infrastructure challenges on First Nations reserves, and radically improve public transit.

Last year, the federal government introduced changes to the capital gains tax. But while this was a welcome move, far more is needed to directly address wealth inequality in Canada. 

Specifically, the federal government must:

• Introduce a wealth tax – an annual tax on net wealth over $10 million – a move that could raise $32 billion in just one year²
• Implement a windfall tax on large corporations making extraordinarily high profits, particularly in the oil and gas industry
• Raise the corporate income tax rate, which has been significantly slashed over the last two decades
• Shut down loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid taxes

It’s not radical to demand that the wealthy pay their fair share; it’s common sense.

That’s why people across the country – and across regional, demographic, and even party lines – overwhelmingly support taxing the rich and want the government to act. It’s time our government listens.

Will you join us in urging the federal government to implement fair taxes for the ultra-wealthy?

Read more:

1. Company Men: CEO Pay in Canada in 2023, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, January 2, 2025 
2. Why Canada still needs a wealth tax—and what it could fund, Policynote, May 9, 2023