Alberta’s Executive Salary Survey

Compensation is a powerful tool to attract and retain the top-level people to lead and grow a company. Find out how Alberta-based companies pay their executive staff in our first ever Executive Salary Survey

With an unemployment rate of only 5.8% in Alberta, attracting and retaining the top-level people to lead and grow companies is not a simple quest. Compensation is a powerful part of the package which keeps the right people in the right place. Offering the right combination of salary and benefits is key but what it takes to be competitive in the marketplace is not always obvious. To find out how Alberta-based companies pay their executive staff, Alberta Venture conducted its first Executive Compensation Survey. The intent of the survey was to provide a salary range for executive positions to allow companies to measure and evaluate their own compensation plan.

The results are intriguing, though not always surprising. For individuals aspiring to a big pay cheque without concern for the amount of stress that may go with it, chief executive officer is the title you want. The median salary of a CEO in Alberta is $204,125; for a COO $185,500 and for a CFO, $125,000. To be more specific, the best paid CEOs are in public companies in the resource sector, where the highest salary was clocked in at $425,000. CEOs also rake in the best bonuses (a median of $70,000), benefits ($4,150) and perks ($12,000). It is obvious that bonuses have become an increasingly significant reward; over 90% of companies surveyed provide bonuses for executive and middle management with 62% providing bonuses for entry-level professionals.

In the middle management area, not including the general manager, some human resources managers are being recognized for their role, with a high salary of $163,000, but on average, IT managers are the best paid, with a median of $102,500. Not surprisingly, engineering companies most appreciate their IT manager.

In the responses to compensation policy questions, it becomes immediately obvious how important the surveyed companies believe ongoing training and education are for their employees. One hundred per cent of the companies replied that they provide opportunities for corporate training and continuing education, spending a median of $1,000 per employee. Over 86% of the surveyed companies pay for all training costs.

When time comes to give out raises, the most significant element is personal performance, by a wide margin. Over 83% of the companies surveyed consider personal performance to be the major indicator for a raise, while 38% also cited company performance and 35% said they consider project performance. And for employees out there, it should be noted that enthusiasm, work ethic and positive results were also considered when raises were being doled out.

Current Issue