College sees largest Sunshine List increase
Niagara College had the largest increase in employees and salaries of any Ontario college on the 2016 Sunshine List.
The college had 55 more employees on the list, released by the provincial government Friday, than in 2015, representing a total salary increase of about $6.8 million.
Niagara had 236 employees on the compendium of public workers who earned $100,000 or more last year, for a total salary pay out of $27,360,759.35, according to sunshineliststats.com, which provides detailed data analysis and calculations.
That’s up from the 181 employees on the 2015 list, for a total salary payout of $20,520,432.13.
President Dan Patterson again topped the list of Niagara College employees, with a salary of $335,151.30, plus $7,445.90 in taxable benefits.
Patterson was the college’s top earner in 2015, too, with a salary of $317,489.68, plus $5,815.15 in taxable benefits.
Niagara College spokeswoman Susan McConnell said the two main reasons for the increase was an extra pay period, which put 32 people on the list that otherwise wouldn’t be there, and employees progressing in their careers.
She said there were only four new hires on the 2016 Sunshine List.
“There was an extra pay period last year because of the way the year flowed. I think that the 27 pay-period cycle is what has made that number look larger than normal,” said McConnell.
“Sometimes people look at the amounts, but we also have to be competitive as a college. Niagara College strives to be an employer of choice. We continue to attract and retain employees with the skills, knowledge and expertise required to provide educational and service excellence to our students.”
As for Brock University, it had 12 more employees on the list in 2016 than in 2015, representing a total salary increase of $3.8 million.
The university had 595 employees on the list, for a total salary of $89,272,703.68, according to sunshineliststats.com.
That’s up from the 583 employees in 2015, representing a total salary payout of $85,445,251.63. resident Jack Lightstone again topped the list, with a salary of $326,076, plus $5,886.46 in taxable benefits.
Lightstone was the university’s top earner in 2015, too, with a salary of $333,576, plus $9,913.23 in taxable benefits.
In a Brock statement, the university said the 595 employees represents a two per cent increase in head count and an average salary increase of 2.3 per cent. “The 12 new names on the list are split evenly between faculty and staff with six each,” read the statement.
“You can see by the published list that this group tends to include full-time faculty, librarians and senior administrative staff, which is typical for post-secondary institutions in Canada.”
Brock University has nearly 6,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff, making it one of Niagara’s biggest employers.