The CEOs of Canada’s largest public companies are paid more than 150 times what the average Canadian worker earns, according to a new report by compensation consultants Gallagher McDowall Associates.

The report, which looked at compensation trends at 120 of Canada’s largest companies, said CEO pay “stabilized” in 2015 – but the long term trend continues to move higher.

CEO compensation “continues to rise every year,” according to the report. “Looking back over six years, we see that their cash compensation and LTI (long term incentive) awards have both increased dramatically.”

Total cash, stock and other incentives paid to CEOs of the top 60 TSX-listed companies worked out an average of $7.89 million in 2015. Total average pay for CEOs of the next 60-largest companies was about $4.06 million.

CEO compensation continues to be a hot topic, but there is little investors can do to stem the tide. Canadian investors at just two companies voted against non-binding “say-on-pay” motions earlier this year. Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG.TO) received just 31 per cent support, while 49.9 per cent of Canadian Pacific Railway Co. (CP.TO) shareholders voted in favor of CEO Hunter Harrison’s more than $20-million pay package. Shares of the railway company during the same time had fallen about 20 per cent.

The report also looked at how much more tax CEOs pay. Chief executives at the 60 largest firms paid more than 431 times the tax of a typical worker. That drops to 222 times for CEOs at the next largest firms. However, that tax bill assumes CEOs and workers are using only basic deductions and taking no steps to reduce their taxable income. 

“High income earners, such as CEOs, pay a lot of tax— in fact about three times as much for every dollar of their income as typical Canadian wage earners pay,” the report says.