CBC spent $18M on bonuses after eliminating hundreds of jobs

OTTAWA –

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. paid $18.4 million in bonuses this year after hundreds of jobs at the public broadcaster were eliminated.

Documents obtained through access to information laws show CBC/Radio-Canada paid out bonuses to 1,194 employees for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

More than $3.3 million of that was paid to 45 executives.

That means those executives got an average bonus of over $73,000, which is more than the median family income after taxes in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

More than $10.4 million was paid out to 631 managers and over $4.6 million was paid to 518 other employees.

The board approved the bonuses in June, but has refused to disclose how much was paid out even though members of Parliament have been asking for the figure since last December.

That’s when CBC announced it would be laying off employees to help balance its budget.

Ultimately 141 employees were laid off and 205 vacant positions were eliminated at CBC/Radio-Canada.

The public broadcaster calls the bonuses performance pay that count toward some employees’ total compensation as part of contracts that promise payouts when certain company goals are met.