Bonuses at Investissement Québec | Negative return cuts checks

Annual bonuses were cut by 42% at Investissement Québec (IQ) last year, where the return of -4.8% resulted in a net loss of 224 million. A little over 7 million will still be distributed throughout the financial arm of the Quebec state.

This is revealed by the data obtained by The Press under the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information. In 2021-2022, a record sum of 12 million had been paid. In its response, IQ explains that the majority of performance indicators had been exceeded in two of the three categories assessed, namely economic development and organizational performance.

“His result on the financial performance factor was affected downward by the net loss, it is written. Overall, this decline in the financial performance factor contributed to a significant reduction in the amount paid to its employees in terms of incentive compensation. »

IQ employees are now entitled to long-term bonuses, which are derived from results recorded since 2019-2020. This sum will be added to the annual bonuses.

An increase in provisions for losses – $130 million was set aside – and a drop in the value of investments caused the Crown corporation to plunge into the red at the end of the fiscal year ended March 31 last. During this period, three of IQ’s six highest-paid executives saw their overall salaries, which take into account base salary, bonuses and other perks, cross the $1 million mark.

Despite the negative performance, the president and CEO of the financial arm of the Quebec government, Guy LeBlanc, retorted on June 6 that performance was not measured solely by performance.

By videoconference to comment on the results, he pointed out that out of 18 performance indicators, 12 had been met or exceeded. These cast a very wide net. For example, it identifies objectives in terms of the number of projects financed, productivity and sales generated internationally by companies supported by IQ.

“No one can be rational with 18 indicators,” emphasizes Luc Bernier, professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. We have one when we base ourselves on three or four indicators. »

tricky question

Exceptionally, the Crown corporation had held a technical briefing on the issue of compensation before announcing its results.

” Payments [des primes] this year will probably be 50% of what they were last year, had launched Marie Zakaïb, first vice-president, human resources and internal communications. The fact of not having met our performance this year will have an impact on the bonuses this year. »

Mr. LeBlanc was entitled to an annual bonus of $86,737 in 2022-2023, which represents a decline of 17.4%. This amount will appear in the next annual report. Nearly half of the amount paid, ie 7.1 million, was distributed to 1,053 unionized and non-unionized employees of IQ.

“I understand that the role of IQ is not only profits, but when you lose 234 million, we do not enrich Quebec,” said Mr. Bernier. If it is not only a loss on paper, it will be necessary, one day or another, to collect it for real. »

The expert finds it difficult to explain why annual bonuses are distributed when the performance is negative. In his opinion, it would be necessary “at a minimum” to obtain a result of approximately 2%, which constitutes the borrowing rate of the government.

“We should play at zero sum,” says Mr. Bernier.

In presenting the annual results, Mr. LeBlanc pointed out that the yield spread over five years, which reached 6.3%, was higher than Quebec’s borrowing costs.

With William Leclerc, The Press