Over 300,000 public sector workers earn more than $100K; OPG CEO tops the list

TORONTO — The five top paid public employees in Ontario are all at Ontario Power Generation, with the CEO earning $1.9 million last year.

A list of public sector workers who were paid more than $100,000 in 2023, the so-called Sunshine List, was released Thursday and it had more than 300,000 names. That’s up from nearly 267,000 for the previous year.

There were 383 people who earned $400,000 or more last year.

Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney said the largest year-over-year increases were in the hospitals, municipalities and post-secondary sectors.

OPG CEO Ken Hartwick is again in the top spot, and the Crown corporation’s chief strategy officer, chief projects officer, chief operations officer and an executive vice-president are in the subsequent spots.

The presidents and CEOs of the Hospital for Sick Children and the University Health Network are next on the list, earning around $850,000 and the next slot is occupied by Phil Verster, the president and CEO of provincial transit agency Metrolinx.

Verster has been under fire lately for long-delayed progress on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. It was originally supposed to open in 2020, and Verster has said he will update the public when there is an opening date, but none has been provided thus far.

Premier Doug Ford earned about $208,000 last year, less than several of his top staffers.

Amin Massoudi, who left his job as principal secretary in the premier’s office in 2022, is listed as being paid more than $115,000 in 2023. That was his severance payment, a spokesperson for Ford said in a statement, and Massoudi will be repaying the full amount. 

Cabinet ministers earned $165,851, while some deputy ministers – the top bureaucrats in their respective ministries – earned close to or upwards of $400,000.

Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles earned $174,950.

Salaries of other Ontario public figures include:

– $601,376 for Registered Nurses Association of Ontario CEO Doris Grinspun

– $464,148 for Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore 

– $395,974 for now-former auditor general Bonnie Lysyk 

– $373,472 for OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique 

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, enacted by former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris in 1996, compels organizations that receive public funding from the province to report the names, positions and pay of people who make more than $100,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

The Canadian Press