Federal executive pay is facing renewed criticism after the Canadian Taxpayers Federation reported that government departments and Crown corporations paid $201.5 million in performance-related compensation in 2025.

The taxpayers group said about 88 per cent of eligible government executives received extra compensation. This included at-risk pay, performance awards, bonuses and bilingual payments.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer criticized the payments in a social media post. He said executives should not be rewarded when federal departments fail to meet many of their own targets.

“If you write the questions for your own test and still get a D-minus, you shouldn’t get a reward,” Scheer wrote.

He accused Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of rewarding failure and called for cuts to government spending.

The $201.5-million figure reported by the taxpayers federation includes several types of compensation paid by federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations and not all of the money was paid as bonuses for exceptional performance.

Treasury Board figures show executives in the core public administration received $146.3 million in performance pay during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Of that amount, $142.9 million was at-risk pay. This is a part of executive compensation that must be earned each year. About $3.4 million was paid as extra bonuses for exceptional performance.

The Treasury Board said 7,987 executives, or 98.1 per cent of those eligible, received performance pay. Of those, 559 executives received an additional bonus.

The average total performance payment was $17,972. The average additional bonus among those who received one was $6,134.

Under federal pay rules, lower-level executives may receive at-risk pay worth up to 12 per cent of their base salary and bonuses of up to three per cent.

More senior executives may receive at-risk pay of up to 20 per cent of their base salary and bonuses of up to six per cent.

The taxpayers federation compared the payments with federal data showing departments met 54 per cent of their stated targets during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Federation federal director Franco Terrazzano said the large number of executive payments raises questions about how the government measures performance.

“Bonuses are for when you go above and beyond, so why are most government executives taking bonuses every year when their departments can barely pass their own test?” Terrazzano said.

The organization said Crown corporation payments included $30.8 million at Canada Post, $31.7 million at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and $10.3 million at VIA Rail.

Canada Post has defended its performance payments. It said the payments are part of employee compensation agreements and are based on corporate, team and individual goals.

The Treasury Board describes at-risk pay as part of the federal executive compensation system, rather than an automatic increase in base salary.

Executives who do not meet expectations are not eligible for the payments. The payments must also be approved each year.

The taxpayers federation calculated the $201.5-million figure using records obtained through access-to-information requests.

The Treasury Board’s official total of $146.3 million applies only to executives in the core public administration. It does not include all Crown corporations and separate federal agencies.

The issue comes as the Carney government has promised to review federal spending, remove duplicated programs and improve productivity in the public service.