While the Canadian economy continues to recover from the effects of a bruising recession, a new study suggests that many of its top executives are doing just fine.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study Monday indicating that the country's 100 best-paid CEOs took home an average of $6.6 million in 2009.

The study says these top-earning CEOs made about 154 times the salary of the average Canadian, who pulled in only $42,988 in the same year.

Study author Hugh Mackenzie writes the CEO compensation demonstrates how "Canada's business elite has preserved its privileged position" during challenging times.

The study named the following individuals as the top five earning CEOs in 2009 (salaries in brackets):

  • Aaron Regent of Barrick Gold Corp. ($24.2 million)
  • Hunter Harrison of Canadian National Railway Co. ($17.3 million)
  • Gerald Schwartz of Onex Corp. (nearly $16.7 million)
  • Edmund Clark of Toronto Dominion Bank (nearly $15.2 million)
  • Nadir Mohamed of Rogers Communications Inc. (nearly $13.7 million)

Mackenzie's report indicates this group of highly paid CEOs actually earned less than they did the previous year, when they took home an average of $7.3 million in 2008.

But Mackenzie says that year-to-year drop bucks a trend that has seen CEOs get richer and richer, while average employees have seen their salaries stagnate.

In an interview with CTV News Channel on Monday afternoon, Mackenzie said that in the 1990s, the highest-paid CEOs "scraped by" making about 85 times what the average worker earned.

"So there's been a real explosion in the past few years," Mackenzie said, noting that the 2009 statistics represent the "pit" of the recent recession.

Looking at the figures from a different perspective, by about 2:30 p.m. on Monday, the highest-paid CEOs had already earned the average worker's yearly salary for 2011, Mackenzie said.

The study further suggests that the reported 2009 salaries may not reflect the true compensation these CEOs receive because of the way stock options are reported. As an example, Mackenzie says the big banks could be under-reporting the value of their stock options by some $5.1 million per CEO in the 2009 year.

Additionally, Mackenzie said tying executive pay to stock value is a problem, because it could potentially motivate CEOs to focus on short-term value to boost stock prices.

He also added that stock-based payments are taxed at only half the rate of regular earnings, giving the richest "preferential" treatment.

"I also think that there are some things governments can do," he said, noting that a shift in the taxation policy would help narrow the gap between the richest and poorest in Canada.

"That would be a very easy thing to change."