Executive Compensation Program
As of August 18, 2018 the Province of Ontario has frozen executive compensation for most designated employers. The information on this page is provided for reference only and may be inaccurate or out of date.
Background
Our Context
Compensation Guiding Principles
Designated Executives
Comparators
Public Comment & Final Approval
Draft Executive Compensation Program Document (.pdf)
Background
The Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010 (BPSAA) was established in 2010 by the provincial government and included provisions for controls on compensation, expenses and perquisites for broader public sector employees. Amendments to the BPSAA were made in 2012 and executive compensation in the broader public sector has continued to be restrained under these measures since March 31, 2012. As a result, all elements of compensation for executives were frozen, including performance pay envelopes.
The Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 (BPSECA) was established to manage executive compensation for designated executives in the broader public sector, and authorized the establishment of compensation frameworks applicable to designated employers and executives. In September 2016, the provincial government announced requirements for the development of compensation frameworks through the Executive Compensation Framework Regulation (Ontario Regulation 304/16, as amended by Ontario Regulation 187/17 and the BPSECA Directive), which sets out the requirements that broader public sector employers must meet when establishing designated executive compensation programs.
The Regulation stipulates a process to be followed when designing a draft executive compensation program, including approvals from Treasury Board and the overseeing provincial Ministry (in the case of universities, the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development or MAESD), followed by a public consultation period, prior to finalizing an executive compensation program.
Our Context
The University of Guelph ranks among Canada’s top comprehensive universities and consists of seven colleges with undergraduate and graduate programs spanning the natural and physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Approximately 28,000 full and part time undergraduate and graduate students attend the University of Guelph of which 5,000 are enrolled at the University of Guelph-Humber. The University of Guelph’s presence in the GTA is a result of a unique partnership with Humber College forged in 2002 resulting in the highly successful University of Guelph-Humber.
The University of Guelph has a unique and longstanding partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Through this partnership, Ontario’s long term investment has produced innovation research and education, delivered world class laboratory programs and provided innovative experiential learning opportunities enhancing food. The strategic investment in the next generation of veterinarians, researchers, and business and policy leaders benefits the province by returning more than $1.15 billion to the Ontario economy.
Faculty at the University of Guelph have won more 3M Fellow teaching awards than faculty at any comparably sized university in Canada. The University has more than 3,000 faculty and staff members.
University of Guelph faculty have attracted more research dollars per capita than any other comprehensive university in Canada (from a broad range of sponsors, including the Tri-Council agencies). The University’s research enterprise spans seven colleges and 14 research stations. The University undertakes international research projects in almost 50 countries, and works with public and private sector partners in 30 nations.
In fulfilling its role as a top Canadian comprehensive university and as a world leader in food, agriculture, and veterinary science, the University of Guelph must be able to compete in attracting and retaining top tier senior executives.
Compensation Guiding Principles
The following principles support the design of the University of Guelph’s compensation programs:
- Alignment with strategies and values
- Performance oriented
- Accountability to stakeholders
- Flexible
- Simple and transparent
- Competitive positioning
- Internal relativity
- Holistic
Designated Executives
The following designated executives are covered by the program:
- President
- Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
- Vice-President (Research)
- Vice-President (Finance, Administration & Risk)
- Vice-President (External)
Comparators
The comparators were selected to reflect the University’s labour market for executive talent and included those organizations that have executives with comparable responsibilities as articulated by the profile in the previous section. While the University’s labour market is broad with executive searches being conducted on a global basis, given the restrictions of the regulations and the availability of comparative data, certain Canadian organizations were used as comparators, informed by data available from a compensation survey commissioned by the Council of Ontario Universities. Consideration was made to the five factors outlined in the regulation.
Public Comment & Final Approval
In keeping with the regulation, the Board of Governors approved Draft Executive Compensation Program was posted for public comment for a period of 30 days ending April 1, 2018. No comments were received during this period and, as such, the draft program was submitted to the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development for final approval on April 6, 2018. Once the approval process is complete the final version of the Executive Compensation Program will be posted on this website.