Toronto/IBNS: Canada has announced a pay hike for all Members of Parliament (MPs) effective Apr 1 helping them make over $200,000 per year.

Additional salaries for special offices like ministers, parliamentary secretaries, the Speaker and the Prime Minister will also increase with PM Justin Trudeau’s salary topping $400,000 per year.

The precise number of the increase each year comes from tracking an index of increases from settlements in the private sector, according to the House of Commons.

For this year’s bump, that figure works out to 4.4 percent, meaning the standard salary for a backbench MP will increase by $8,500.

Trudeau will now earn $406,200, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre will take in $299,900 and cabinet ministers will also be paid just under $300,000.

Pay boosts will also be received by those who hold special offices, such as federal party leaders, parliamentary secretaries, house leaders and whips.

Salaries for senators will also go up by $8,500 increasing to $178,100.

The increase in salaries for the Federal government employees has already been criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), an advocacy group, dedicated to lowering taxes and scrutinizing government spending.

“All members of Parliament took a raise today ranging between an extra $8,500 to $17,000…the prime minister’s salary is now $406,200.MPs are taking more money out of Canadians’ pockets and stuffing more money into their own and that’s wrong,” Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director has said in a release.

“MPs should be providing tax relief, not hiking taxes and their own pay.”

The federal government is set to release a budget on April 16.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)