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sessional indemnity

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LegislationJuly 10, 20266 min read
MPs Don't Vote Themselves an Annual Raise. A Formula Does It. Here's How MP Pay, Pensions, and Office Budgets Actually Work.
Members of Parliament are paid under a framework set out in the Parliament of Canada Act. The foundation is the sessional indemnity — the base salary every MP receives regardless of party or seniority, which passed roughly the $200,000 mark in the mid-2020s (the exact current figure is published by the House of Commons). MPs who hold additional roles receive additional salaries on top: the Prime Minister receives an additional amount equal to the base (roughly doubling it), ministers receive an additional salary under the Salaries Act, and the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, House leaders, whips, parliamentary secretaries, and committee chairs each receive smaller supplements scaled to the role. Raises are not voted on annually: the Act adjusts salaries automatically every April 1, indexed to the average increase in base-rate wages from major private-sector union settlements — an index published by the federal government — though Parliament can and occasionally has legislated freezes. Since a 2001 reform eliminated the old tax-free expense allowance, the salary is fully taxable. The pension, governed by the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, vests after six years of pensionable service and accrues at 3 per cent per year of service to a maximum of 75 per cent; reforms passed in 2012 raised members' contribution rates toward equal cost-sharing and moved the age for an unreduced pension to 65 for service after 2015. Separately from all of this, each MP receives an office budget set by the Board of Internal Economy — money for staff, constituency offices, and travel that is publicly disclosed quarterly and is not personal pay.

MPs Don't Vote Themselves an Annual Raise. A Formula Does It. Here's How MP Pay, Pensions, and Office Budgets Actually Work.

Members of Parliament are paid under a framework set out in the Parliament of Canada Act. The foundation is the sessional indemnity — the base salary every MP receives regardless of party or seniority, which passed roughly the $200,000 mark in the mid-2020s (the exact current figure is published by the House of Commons). MPs who hold additional roles receive additional salaries on top: the Prime Minister receives an additional amount equal to the base (roughly doubling it), ministers receive an additional salary under the Salaries Act, and the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, House leaders, whips, parliamentary secretaries, and committee chairs each receive smaller supplements scaled to the role. Raises are not voted on annually: the Act adjusts salaries automatically every April 1, indexed to the average increase in base-rate wages from major private-sector union settlements — an index published by the federal government — though Parliament can and occasionally has legislated freezes. Since a 2001 reform eliminated the old tax-free expense allowance, the salary is fully taxable. The pension, governed by the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, vests after six years of pensionable service and accrues at 3 per cent per year of service to a maximum of 75 per cent; reforms passed in 2012 raised members' contribution rates toward equal cost-sharing and moved the age for an unreduced pension to 65 for service after 2015. Separately from all of this, each MP receives an office budget set by the Board of Internal Economy — money for staff, constituency offices, and travel that is publicly disclosed quarterly and is not personal pay.