Stay informed
No train yet but Alto rail project execs still got $2.8 million in bonuses last year from Ottawa: CTF
Alto high-speed rail executives received more than $2 million in bonuses last year and “they haven’t laid a single metre of track,” Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), said in a statement.
The federal Crown corporation created to oversee Ottawa’s high-speed rail project handed out close to $2.8 million in bonuses between Jan. 1 and July 16 of 2025, according to government records reviewed by the CTF
“Why do these train executives think they deserve huge taxpayer-funded bonuses when they haven’t laid a single metre of track?” Terrazzano said. “Government bureaucrats don’t deserve bonuses before they finish their work, so they definitely don’t deserve bonuses before they even start their work.”
The records were released in response to a question from Andrew Scheer, Conservative Member of Parliament for Regina—Qu’Appelle and Opposition House Leader.
Scheer had asked in Parliament for information on bonuses awarded at Crown corporations for the 2025-26 fiscal year, broken down by the number and level of the recipients.
For Alto, a wholly owned subsidiary of VIA Rail and the body charged with overseeing the construction of a high-speed rail link along the Toronto-Quebec City corridor, the total figure was $2,758,967.68, given out to 18 officials at the executive level or higher, and 116 below the executive level. These numbers represent 100 per cent of the officials at the Crown corporation.
The bonuses paid out to executive-level or higher officials amounted to $1,232,699.24, or an average of about $68,000 each. The remaining amount, $1,526,268.44 was divided among lower-level officials for an average of a little more than $13,000 each.
“The above‑referenced payment relates to the reference period commencing on January 1, 2025, and ending on July 16, 2025, and represents the organization’s most recent short‑term incentive payment,” the document says.
Canada’s high-speed rail plans are still in the “development” phase, a website for Alto notes. The next phase, “construction,” does not have a start date listed. However, in an interview last September , Alto CEO Martin Imbleau said phased construction is expected to start in 2029 or 2030, with the first of four route segments being completed in six to eight years, and the entire network being finished in the early 2040s.
Government figures note that Alto had an operating budget of $51.67 million in 2023-24, and $597 million in 2025-26. The government says that the increase “is due to additional funding from Budget 2024 and a 2025 off-cycle to continue the (high-speed rail) project. This funding will support the Crown’s core and enabling activities and allow the project to complete the procurement phase and undertake its next phase: co-development.”
Alto’s website says the corporation expects the entire project to cost between $60 billion and $90 billion, adding: “Our current estimate is based on the scale of the project and available research, not on final designs or construction contracts.”
Terrazzano said the Alto bonuses are part of a pattern within the federal government.
“Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to end Ottawa’s entitlement culture because it seems like government executives think they deserve bonuses just for showing up to work twice a week with their shoes tied,” he said, adding: “VIA Rail is another prime example of government executives rewarding themselves for failure.”
VIA Rail, another Crown corporation, said in its answer to Scheer’s question that it awarded just over $10 million in bonuses in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Of that, eight people at the executive level (100 per cent of that group) took home $922,347, or an average of about $115,000 each. The remaining money went to 727 people below the executive level (99 per cent of that group) and came to almost $13,000 each on average.
“VIA Rail executives shouldn’t be taking six-figure bonuses when their Crown corporation is hemorrhaging money and relying on taxpayer bailouts,” Terrazzano said.
VIA Rail’s latest annual report shows operating losses of more than $350 million in each of the last five years. Meanwhile, on time performance was listed at just 35 per cent last year, down from 51 per cent in the previous year. The average over the last five years was 54.8 per cent on time.
“The government is more than $1 trillion in debt so these taxpayer-funded bonuses for failure should be the first thing on the chopping block,” Terrazzano said.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Unpublished Newswire
Comments
Be the first to comment