18 of country's highest paid CEOs work for Calgary-based companies

Calgary is home to nearly a fifth of the highest paid CEOs in Canada 18 out of 100 according to a Toronto think-tank that's calling for government action in the face of record-setting pay for corporate bosses.

In a report published Tuesday, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) looked at the 2015 salary information from 249 TSX-listed companies.

The think-tank then calculated numbers based on the 100 people at the top of that list.

The highest paid boss of a Calgary-based company was Hunter Harrison, who pocketed $19.9 million as CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway.

He earned a base salary of $2.8 million, a $6-million bonus, plus shares, options and other perks worth another $11.1 million.

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The next highest-paid Calgary boss was Shaw Communications Inc. CEO Bradley Shaw, who took home $13.1 million with a base salary of $2.5 million, a $5.9-million bonus and the remaindercomprised of pension and other benefits.

Economist Hugh Mackenzie, who wrote the report for CCPA, says something needs to be done to put a lid on soaring CEO compensation packages.

"I've been tracking CEO pay in Canada for 10 years and nothing has changed," Mackenzie said in a release.

"In the absence of corporate leadership, it falls to government to bring in laws to put a cap on the incentives fuelling soaring CEO compensation packages."

Canada should follow the lead of Portland, Ore., which is slapping a surtax on companies with a CEO-to-worker pay gap that's 100 times or more, Mackenzie said.

193 times more than average

The report found the average earnings of Canada's corporate top 100 increased by 178 per cent between 1998 and 2015, reaching a record high of $9.5 million.

The report shows Canada's 100 highest paid CEOs on the TSX index now make 193 times more than someone earning an average income of $49,501.

Here are the other 16Calgary CEOs among the top 100:

• Steven Williams of Suncor Energy Inc.: $12.2 million.
• Doug Suttles of Encana Corp.: $11.2 million.
• Charles Magroof Agrium Inc.: $10.4 million.
• Rich Kruger of Imperial Oil Inc.: $9.0 million.
• Patrick Carlson of Seven Generations Energy: $8.9 million.
• Al Monaco of Enbridge Inc.: $8.8 million.
• Scott Saxberg of Crescent Point Energy Corp.: $8.8 million.
• Russell Girling of TransCanada Corp.:$8.7 million.
• Brian Ferguson of Cenovus Energy Inc.: $7.9 million.
• Steve Laut of Canadian Natural Resources: $5.1 million.
• Asim Ghosh of Husky Energy Inc.: $5.1 million.
• Gregg Saretsky of WestJet Airlines Ltd.: $4.9 million.
• Dawn Farrell of TransAlta Corp.: $4.5 million.
• Kevin A. Neveu of Precision Drilling Corp.: $4.3 million.
• Myron Stadnyk of Arc Resources Ltd.: $3.9 million.
• Michael Dilger of Pembina Pipeline Corporation: $3.8 million.

The 10 highest paid CEOs across Canada are listed below: