There are new rules in Alberta for the amount university and college executives can be paid.
On Tuesday morning, the province announced it’s bringing salaries in line with the national average.
New rules will cap salary levels and remove perks and bonuses such as golf club memberships, saving around $5 million annually.
Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt says Alberta is bringing in a pay grid for the 20 leaders of its post-secondary institutions, to be fully in effect two years from now.
The two largest institutions — the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary — will be allowed to pay their presidents a base salary of no more than $447,000 a year.
There will be a ban on bonuses and other rollbacks so those presidents can’t earn more than 20 per cent of their base pay in benefits, bringing the maximum total compensation package to about
$536,000.
“Alberta has one of the strongest post-secondary systems in the entire country and our institutions are the envy of many,” Schmidt said.
“An opportunity to lead anyone of these colleges or universities would be significant and I don’t think the pay package we’re presenting here today will impact in any way the ability to attract and retain people.”
The new rules will impact any new or renewed contracts and come into effect April 15. Existing executives will have a two-year transition period.
“We started by getting rid of unnecessary boards. Then we eliminated perks and bonuses, like the golf club memberships,” Finance Minister Joe Ceci said.
“Now we are reining in salaries of the top executives of our agencies, boards and commissions, including post-secondary institutions. We will continue to clean up waste and make sure taxpayer dollars are well spent.”
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The issue has been making headlines recently with University of Alberta students protesting an increase to international student’s tuition by 3.14 per cent, while the school president’s annual salary of over $800,000 remains unchanged.
The U of A board of governors also voted to increase the rent at a number of residences by about four per cent.
University of Alberta president David Turpin makes about $824,000 a year in pay and benefits and Elizabeth Cannon at the University of Calgary makes about $897,000.
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The Alberta government has already passed rules to reduce and regulate pay at agencies, boards and commissions. There is also a wage freeze in place for public-sector managers and non-unionized employees.
Teachers agreed to a salary freeze in their current contract as Alberta deals with multibillion-dollar budget deficits.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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