All directors of Quebec Crown corporations will soon be paid
The government has established four levels of compensation according to, among other things, the complexity, diversity, risk assumed and size of the organization as well as the level of responsibility and the workload of directors.
Québec is professionalizing the boards of directors of nearly forty state corporations whose directors, until now, were not paid.
Finance Minister Eric Girard announced his intention to move forward in October 2021 and the bill to that effect was passed in June 2022.
Thus, as of April 1, the directors of 37 Crown corporations will be paid according to a salary scale that was unveiled on Monday. Until now, the members of the boards of directors of only nine government corporations, including Hydro-Québec, the Société des alcools du Québec and Loto-Québec, to name a few, received compensation.
When tabling his bill, Minister Girard said he wanted not only to professionalize the boards of directors but also to improve the quality of candidates and enhance the attractiveness of these positions.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard has been leading this project since 2021.
The government has therefore established four levels of compensation according to, among other things, the complexity, diversity, risk assumed and size of the organization as well as the level of responsibility and the workload of directors.
At the highest level, which includes the Crown corporations mentioned above, the chair of the board will receive $42,400 per year and directors $21,200 per year. Only one of the six state corporations at this level does not offer any compensation to its board of directors, in this case the Autorité des marchés financiers.
At level two, four Crown corporations remunerate their directors, compared to 12 that have volunteer directors, including, surprisingly, the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, SODEC and Sepaq. These directors will therefore be entitled, starting next month, to $31,800 per year in the case of presidents and $15,900 for directors.
None of the 22 corporations Neither Tier Three Crown nor of the two Tier Four Crown corporations pays its board members. In the latter two cases, presidents will receive $21,200 and $10,600 per year, respectively, while directors' annual salaries will be $10,600 at level three and $5,300 at level four.
In all cases and at all levels, annual bonuses ranging from $1,400 to $8,400 will be paid for chairmanship or for participation in various committees.
Certain exceptions will also be imposed. For example, employees of the public sector or of a subsidiary of a crown corporation as well as judges of a court of law who act as administrators of a Crown corporation cannot be remunerated when they sit on one of these boards of directors.
