Despite Losses, Canadian Cannabis CEOs Among Nation’s Highest-Paid Executives

Several Canadian cannabis company CEOs were among the highest paid corporate executives in the nation in 2019, according to a Centre for Policy Alternatives’ analysis titled “The Golden Cushion: CEO compensation in Canada.”

Aphria Inc. CEO Irwin D. Simon was the seventh-highest-compensated executive earning more than $18.4 million in 2019. The company reported a $16.5 million net loss in fiscal year 2019.

Former Cronos Group CEO Michael Gorenstein earned about $15 million in 2019, making him the 14th-highest-paid executive on the list. Cronos reported a $121 million operating loss during the 2019 fiscal year.

Bruce Linton, former Canopy Growth CEO, was the 50th highest earner in the analysis making about $9.3 million in 2019 – the year he was ousted from the company while it reported a $670 million loss.

Hexo Corp. CEO Sebastien St. Louis was Canada’s 62nd highest-paid executive, earning about $8.8 million in 2019 while the firm reported an $81.6 million loss.

The CEO compensation totals include salary, share-based and option-based awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, pension value, and other types of compensation. Overall, the report found that in Canada, the ratio of average CEO compensation to average worker compensation in 2019 was 202-to-1 and that the average top-100 CEO makes as much money as the average Canadian worker will in a year by 11:17 a.m. on January 4.

The report points out that average CEO pay in 2019 – $10.8 million – was a million less than it was in 2018.

Note: All figures in Canadian dollars