The latest report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), titled The Golden Cushion, lists Canada’s top-paid CEOs in 2019. On average, the top-100 CEOs made 202 times what the average Canadian worker earned.

Aphria posted a net loss of $16.5 million for the 2019 fiscal year, according to its 2019 fourth-quarter report.

The next highest-earning cannabis CEO for 2019 was Michael Gorenstein of Cronos Group Inc., who earned more than $15 million in total compensation. Gorenstein was the 14th highest-earning CEO in Canada, according to the report.

Cronos reported an operating loss of more than $120 million in fiscal 2019.

In September 2020, Kurt Schmidt was named president and CEO of Cronos, with Gorenstein, who had served as the company’s CEO since 2016, appointed executive chairman.

Bruce Linton was the third highest-earning cannabis CEO, posting $9.3 million in total compensation with Canopy Growth Corp. in 2019.

Linton was fired from his position as CEO in July 2019 and the company posted a net loss of more than $670 million for the fiscal year.

According to the CCPA report, both Canopy and Aphria received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) in 2020.

The final cannabis executive included in the report is Hexo Corp. CEO Sebastien St- Louis, whose total compensation amounted to $8.5 million in 2019. Hexo posted a net loss of $81.5 million for fiscal 2019.

Four women were listed as being in the top 100-earning CEOs, none of whom work in cannabis.

The report was written and compiled by economist David Macdonald and informed by company proxy circulars.

A 2020 report published by Toronto-based Bedford Consulting Group, identified former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as among the highest-paid directors of a cannabis company, with his total compensation package with Acreage Holdings approaching $14 million.