Here are the top public sector earners in Waterloo Region and Guelph
The highest paid public sector employees in Waterloo Region and Guelph work in healthcare administration and post-secondary education, according to Ontario’s 2023 sunshine list.
Released Thursday, the annual list names public sector workers with salaries surpassing $100,000.
The top earner on this year's list was Ontario Power Generation President (OPG) and CEO Ken Hartwick, with a salary of more than $1.9 million.
In total, all five of the highest earners in Ontario’s public sector in 2023 were executives employed by OPG.
Here’s a look at the highest-paid public sector employees in Waterloo Region and Guelph:
- Grand River Hospital President and CEO Ronald Gagnon – $585,695 salary and $2,562 in taxable benefits
- Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Director Robert Myers – $573,501 salary and $1,198 in taxable benefits
- Conestoga College President John Tibbits – $494,716 salary and $2,920 in taxable benefits
- University of Waterloo President Vivek Goel – $494,223 salary and $2,476 in taxable benefits
- University of Guelph President and Vice-Chancellor Charlotte Yates – $423,648 salary and $14,119 in taxable benefits
- Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics faculty Paul Smith – $404,923 salary and $2,026 in taxable benefits
- University of Waterloo professor Kenneth Klassen – $382,255 salary and $933 in taxable benefits
- Communitech President and CEO Christopher Albinson – $380,000 salary and $562 in taxable benefits
- Conestoga College Senior Vice President of Academic Student Affairs, Human Resources, Research, and Information Technology Barbara Kelly – $377,556 salary, no taxable benefits
- Grand River Hospital Executive Vice President of Patient Care Services Bonnie Camm – $373,121 salary and $1,767 in taxable benefits.
Is $100,000 too low a threshold for the sunshine list?
This year, a total of 300,570 employees made the Ontario sunshine list, up from 266,948 in 2022 and nearly double the number of names on the 2018 list.
The list was first launched in 1996 as part of legislation meant to encourage transparency in Ontario spending.
The threshold has not changed since then, despite inflation and a generally higher cost of living.
If inflation is taken into account, $100,000 from 1996 would equate about $180,000 in 2024.
Government House Leader Paul Calandra, however, said there is no plan to change this threshold while speaking with reporters at Queen’s Park on Thursday.
“I think that it’s an important document that serves the people well in highlighting the salaries of public employees.”
The province’s official opposition agreed, saying that $100,000 is still a lot of money in an affordability crisis.
The Ontario government must release the sunshine list by March 31 every year under the legislation.
With files from CTV Toronto
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Woman shot by B.C. police was Colombian refugee with young daughter, advocate says
Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.
Video released of person of interest after cat is allegedly set on fire in Orillia, Ont.
Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.