2018 Sunshine List: top earners
Every year Ontario government publishes its annual Sunshine List of public sector servants, which includes nurses, teachers, police officers, and firefighters, with six-figure salaries. In Ontario, 131,741 staffers made the list this year, earning a total salary of $16,812,900,448.61 in 2017.
At the top of the Sunshine List
Topping the list for Ontario was President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Lyash who brought home $1,554,456.95 in 2017.
Following Jeffrey Lyash was President and Chief Investment Officer, University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation Daren Smith, who had annual earnings of $936,089.48. Nuclear President and Chief Nuclear Officer Glenn Jager made $858,445.43, President and Chief Executive Officer / Président et chef de la direction Bruce Campbell made $749,862.59 and President and Chief Executive Officer / Président et chef de la direction Mark Fuller round out the top-five highest-paid employees with $745,211.84 for the Ontario 2018 Sunshine List.
Breaking down the numbers
Among the 131,741 Ontario's employees, who received more than six-figure salaries 48,896 received earnings between $100,000 and $110,000 followed by 61,936 who received between $110,001 and $150,000 , 15,008 received between $150,001 and $200,000 , 3,722 received between $200,001 and $250,000 , 1,283 received between $250,001 and $300,000 , 867 received over $300,000 at Ontario.
For a complete list of public sector employees who made the 2018 Sunshine List, go to Sunshine List 2018 Employees List. If you wish to analyse the list by employer go to Sunshine List 2018 Employers List.
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The Sunshine List
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, makes Ontario's public sector more open and accountable to taxpayers. The act requires organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to make public, by March 31 each year, the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in the previous calendar year.
In Ontario the Sunshine List was first published in 1996, by the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris. Just 4,576 names appeared on the first list.
A lot has been debated about the $100,000 threshold of the Sunshine List. If the list was adjusted for inflation since 1996, the real benchmark salary would now be around $151,929.
Those in favor of the current benchmark argue that $100,000 still a lot of money. The average weekly wages for workers in Ontario is $974, which amounts to $50,600 per year. That includes overtime pay, and assumes no weeks off. This is half of the Sunshine List threshold.