REGINA – The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is sounding the alarms over some eyebrow-raising bonuses reported by Canada Post.
“Outrageous” was the word used by Franco Terrazzano, Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director, to describe $30.8 million in executive and management bonuses at Canada Post in 2025.
What has Terrazzano particularly steamed is that these bonuses were paid during a year when Canada Post was in the process of being bailed out.
He said in 2025 Canada Post lost nearly $1.6 billion, and then took a $1 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.
“In what world does Canada Post deserve bonuses in the tens of millions of dollars when they're taking taxpayer-funded bailouts and they're losing hundreds of millions of dollars? It's completely unacceptable.”
If Canada Post is taking taxpayer-funded bailouts, Terrazzano said, then “there's no way its managers and executives should be showering themselves with bonuses.”
“This is a prime example of government bureaucrats rewarding themselves for failure. This needs to end. Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to step in and shut down these taxpayer-funded bonuses for failure.”
According to CTF, the $30.8 million figure is from Canada Post's report to Parliament’s government operations committee. CTF said the average bonus for Canada Post executives and managers was about $13,000.
But CTF is claiming in their news release that Canada Post did not break down how much they actually gave its executives, claiming they had buried executive bonuses inside the management total. CTF adds Canada Post also didn’t disclose what percentage of executives took a bonus, or how much those bonuses cost for their non-management staff.
Canada Post is not the only federal Crown under the microscope from the Taxpayers Federation. Terrazzano pointed to numerous other examples of “taxpayer-funded bonuses for failure.”
He pointed to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the government housing agency, handing out $31.7 million in bonuses.
“Well, Canadians can't afford homes, and yet those bureaucrats take tens of millions of dollars in bonuses a year.”
He also pointed to $10.3 million in bonuses at VIA Rail, despite massive yearly financial losses.
“VIA Rail loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and yet they're still handing out bonuses.”
Terrazzano also pointed to Alto, the federal Crown overseeing the high-speed rail project. CTF reported that Alto handed out $2.8 million in bonuses.
“Every executive at Alto took a bonus,” Terrazzano said. “Meanwhile, this Crown corporation hasn't laid a single meter of track for the train line, and they don't even know the exact route for the rail project.”
Terrazzano said these bonuses at multiple Crown corporations show an “even deeper problem in Ottawa, and that's the government entitlement culture.”
“Because you see Crown corporation after Crown corporation, department after department, failing and still showering themselves in bonuses.”
As for what needs to be done about it, Terrazzano said these departments and Crown corporations “should have enough common sense to end these bonuses for failure, especially when the federal government is more than a trillion dollars in debt.”
But if executives in the Crown corporations or the departments don't have common sense, he said, then “we need Prime Minister Mark Carney to take leadership and end these bonuses.”
“Because also, Carney has repeatedly promised to spend less. Well, the taxpayer-funded bonuses for failure should be the first thing on the chopping block.”
