Ontario has released its annual salary disclosures, nicknamed the Sunshine List, revealing that more than 400,000 publicly paid employees in the province earned over $100,000 last year.
All five of the province’s top earners worked for Ontario Power Generation, while health-care executives and the public pension board also made the top 10.
Kenneth Hartwick, listed as a special advisor to Ontario Power Generation, made the most out of any public servant in 2025. He took home a salary of $1.9 million, with a further $3,500 in taxable benefits.
Nicolle Butcher, the president and CEO, made $1.6 million. Meanwhile, OPG’s chief nuclear officer and chief financial officer both made north of $1 million.
The highest-paid non-OPG employee was Kevin Smith, the president and CEO of the University Health Network. He was paid $939,603 for 2025, along with almost $100,000 in taxable benefits.
Between his roles at Metrolinx, where he is now the leader, and Infrastructure Ontario, Michael Lindsay was paid roughly $860,000.
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Premier Doug Ford collected $269,567.49 in public pay during 2025, while his cabinet ministers, who received a pay rise last year, were given $213,939.75 each.
The number of people on the list who earned more than $100,000 jumped again significantly last year. The latest list has more than 400,000 people on it, up from roughly 375,000 in 2024.
In 2022, there were 267,000 people on the list.
President of the Treasury Board Caroline Mulroney pointed out that growth has been driven by municipal jobs, school boards and health-care workers.
“Over 50 per cent of this year’s growth was driven by municipalities, which includes local police and fire services whose work continues to protect Ontario communities,” she wrote in a statement.
“Of the total list, more than half is comprised of public service organizations like school boards, hospitals and public boards of health, which in large part is comprised of nurses and teachers.”
The Sunshine List was first introduced in 1996, with the promise of making it easier for taxpayers to see where some of their money is being spent.
The salaries and workers captured on the list range from CEOs with pay packages nearing the $1-million mark to professors, firefighters and some transit operators or mechanics.
The annual list takes into account total compensation, including overtime or severance payments.
According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $100,000 from 1996, when the Sunshine List was launched, is worth north of $185,017.03 in 2024. About 22,530 names on the list are over that inflationary threshold.
Wow 450k ?! You would never guess looking around at the services 🤔 but I guess they will keep gouging the taxpayers until nobody’s is left to rob !!! Lol , if I was a business owner who have to hand half the $$$ I generate to these thieves, I would be very angry…….now I understand why they are heading to Florida
In 1996 I made $24/hr. Today I make $25
These salaries of more then 200k a year is B.S. and we wonder were all the tax money collected goes……..
Public servants make me sick. Don’t pay tax yet threaten to go on strike every few years to get more money. F U!
Do you realize that none of these people pay tax? Their pay is tax money. So if one of these people gets paid 100,000 and clears 80,000 the tax payers are down 80,000. They DON’T PAY TAX! AND THEY GET THEIR ANUAL RAISE EVERY YEAR!! JOKE
Amazing how many provincial sunshine list folk make more than the PM’s yearly salary of approximately 450K/yr.
They do need to change the target dollar value, though. I remember as a young adult 35 years ago it was also ranked at 100K. But in today’s world, 100K is much easier to make per year.
What a disgrace
The sunshine list is so obsolete now. When it was created in 1996 if you made 100k a year that was a very high salary. Now, 30 years later In 2026 a salary of 100k isn’t really that impressive; especially given the average salary in Ontario is 63-69k. On the other hand, the high end of the list is insanely high salaries.
And we still keep giving dougie our votes.
Its time for a change