Radio-Canada Sparks Controversy With Record Salary Hikes Amid Budget Cuts

Salary Increases Replace Abolished Bonuses

The structural shift follows intense public backlash over performance bonuses paid out by the public broadcaster in previous years. According to documents cited by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Radio-Canada awarded 18,4 millions de dollars in performance bonuses to 1 194 employees during the 2023–2024 fiscal year, which included over 3 millions distributed among just 45 senior executives. Radio-Canada announced in May 2025 that it would dismantle individual performance-based pay. However, internal documents show the funding was directly reallocated into base salaries, driving total yearly wage increases to 37,7 millions de dollars for 2024–2025—nearly triple the 11,5 millions de dollars recorded the previous year. No employee experienced a salary reduction as part of the transition. Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, criticized the maneuver in sourced reports, stating that Radio-Canada merely shifted the problem rather than fixing it. Radio-Canada tries to calm the bonus controversy, but she just moves the problem, Terrazzano said. Taxpayers are not fooled: whether we are talking about bonuses or salary increases, it is always their money that is squandered.

Justification and Market Alignment

Radio-Canada defended the adjustments by pointing to an independent study conducted by consulting firm Mercer. The report recommended maintaining total compensation at current market median levels following the elimination of performance bonuses, warning that removing bonuses entirely would place CBC and Radio-Canada remuneration below market rates. In a public statement issued in May 2025, the broadcaster outlined its rationale: The board of directors, on the advice and with the agreement of the president and CEO, has decided to end individual performance pay. In order to maintain overall compensation at the current median level, the salaries of the employees concerned will be adjusted to reflect the elimination of individual performance pay.

Growth in Six-Figure Salaries Over a Decade

Data from the access-to-information records highlights a sharp, decade-long expansion in high-earning positions within the corporation. During the 2024–2025 fiscal year, 1 831 Radio-Canada employees earned salaries exceeding 100 000 dollars, accounting for a total expenditure of 240 millions with an average salary of 131 060 dollars for that tier. By comparison, only 438 employees earned over 100 000 dollars during the 2015–2016 fiscal year, totaling 59,6 millions de dollars. The volume of six-figure earners has surged by 318 % over the ten-year span, registering a 17 % increase in the 2024–2025 period alone.

Broader Financial Pressures and Industry Contrast

The salary expansions arrive as the federal government mandates a 15 % reduction in operating expenditures across the public service over a three-year period, which could translate to cuts ranging between 150 et 200 millions de dollars for Radio-Canada. Critics have contrasted the broadcaster’s wage growth with severe contractions across private media outlets in Quebec and Canada, where organizations face collapsing advertising revenues and workforce reductions. An earlier Léger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation indicated that seven out of ten Canadians opposed the broadcaster’s bonus allocations, reflecting broad public friction over institutional spending priorities during a period of widespread economic restraint.