BDC employees paid over $250 million in bonuses since 2019: documents

Article content

OTTAWA — Canada’s small business investment bank handed out over $250 million in employee performance bonuses over the past five years.

The information was contained within a response to an order paper question filed by Sen. Don Plett. It says the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) — a Crown corporation — handed out a total of $250,604,100 in bonuses to their employees since 2019.

Article content

Article content

“Canadians deserve to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent, especially during the Trudeau government’s cost-of-living crisis,” Plett told the National Post.

“These bonuses have nothing to do with the performance of the organization. Sadly, the government refuses to answer the simple question: what are the criteria for these payments? And how did the organization and the managers meet these criteria?”

In a statement to the National Post, BDC spokesperson Phil Taylor said performance awards — like those handed out by other large organizations — are based on a formula that includes factors such as the corporation’s annual results, individual performance and variable pay targets.

“BDC’s performance over the past five years has been exceptionally strong, increasing the number of clients we serve by a massive 40 per cent despite the pandemic’s debilitating effects and generating more than $5 billion in net income,” the statement read.

“Our people are central to these outstanding results, and their tireless work is fully deserving of every penny in remuneration they’ve earned.”

Article content

Article content

Of that amount, $11,276,700 was handed out as bonuses to BDC’s top 10 executives over the same time period, ranging between $1.92 million and $2.9 million annually.

According to the order paper response, the only bonuses subject to ministerial approval are those granted to BDC’s CEO Isabelle Hudon — a seasoned executive who took the helm of the Crown corporation in 2021 after serving as Canada’s ambassador to France and Monaco, and as the prime minister’s personal representative for La Francophonie, the international organization for French-speaking nations.

The costliest year for bonuses was 2023 when $2,875,400 in performance awards were handed out.

The order paper response says that BDC employed 2,849 employees as of the end of last year, but it doesn’t indicate how many of those received bonuses.

Founded in 1944, BDC was originally known as the Industrial Development Bank, part of Canada’s efforts to ease economic recovery after the Second World War by helping arms manufacturers retool for peacetime production.

Article content

The bank’s mandate shifted toward entrepreneurship and small businesses in the 1970s, becoming the Federal Business Development Bank (FBDB) before rebranding as the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) in 1995.

BDC found itself caught up in the McKinsey scandal last year after CBC News reported that Hudon entered into a number of high-priced contracts with the controversial consulting firm.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Franco Terrazzano said it’s long past time for the government to stop showering public servants with high-priced bonuses.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to step in and shut down the bonus party in government and the Crown corporations,” he said.

“Why do bureaucrats in government and Crown corporations think they’re entitled to keep giving themselves bonuses every year?”

In its statement to the National Post, BDC maintains it is self-sustaining and its services and salaries come at no cost to taxpayers.

“BDC has put nearly a billion dollars into the pocket of the taxpayer over the past five years through the dividends it paid to the Government of Canada,” the statement read.

Article content

The BDC is not the only Crown agency to reward its staff with extra pay.

Just months before announcing sweeping job cuts, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation handed out $15 million in bonuses, according to documents unearthed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

And despite frequently missing performance targets, federal public servants took home nearly $200 million in bonus pay in 2022.

As well, all but two of the Bank of Canada’s 82 executives — excluding the governor and senior deputy governor — took home $3.5 million in performance bonuses in 2022.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.

Article content