Ontario releases annual sunshine list of highest earners — Metrolinx CEO makes top 5 | Globalnews.ca
Ontario has released its annual salary disclosures, nicknamed the Sunshine List, revealing more than 375,000 publicly-paid employees in the province earned more than $100,000 last year.
The three highest-paid civil servants in the province all worked for Ontario Power Generation but recently-departed Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster cracked the top five for the first time.
Kenneth Hartwick earned just over $2 million last year as president and CEO of Ontario Power, followed by OPG’s chief operations officer Nicolle Butcher at $978,380.20 and chief nuclear officer Steve Gregoris at $919,310.33.
Verster, who left Metrolinx in December after a turbulent tenure, earned $883,990.63 last year as CEO of the provincial transit agency, plus $13,826.58 in taxable benefits that included an allowance for a car.
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The fifth highest-paid public figure in the province was Kevin Smith, the president and CEO of the University Health Network. He earned $883,097.20.
The number of people on the list who earned more than $100,000 jumped again significantly last year. The latest list has more than 375,000 people on it, up from roughly 300,000 in 2023. The year before that, in 2022, there were 267,000 people on the list.
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 high-paid 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 $180,000 in 2023 money.
Last year, after the list was released, the government said it had no plans to update the definition to reflect the higher cost of living.
- Kenneth Hartwick, President and CEO of OPC, $2,010,895.76.
- Nicolle Butcher, Chief Operations Officer at OPG, $978,380.20.
- Steve Gregoris, Chief Nuclear Officer at OPG, $919,310.33.
- Phil Verster, President and CEO of Metrolinx, $883,990.63
- Kevin Smith, President and CEO of the University Health Network $883,097.20.
- Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children, $870,013.40.
- Subo Sinnathamby, Chief Projects Officer at OPG, $848,712.56.
- Aida Cipolla, Chief Financial Officer at OPG, $835,093.85
- Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health $823,200.19.
- Jon Franke, Senior Vice President Nuclear at OPG, $818,174.04.
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