Sun shines on teachers, nurses in latest $100,000 salary list for region

Teachers or scholars continue to account for almost two-thirds of public servants earning $100,000 or more in this region

The number of scholars and nurses on the latest ‘sunshine list’ of toppaying public sector jobs has leaped up. Ontario released the list March 28, showing 11,333 people who earned more than $100,000 last year across 39 employers in this region. This excludes direct employees of the provincial government. The number of names on the list grew by 12 per cent over 2022. Here are three takeaways.

College and universities

Conestoga College and the University of Waterloo helped lead the way in expanding the 2023 sunshine list.

The college added 250 names to its list of six-figure earners, more than any other local employer.

More than half the additions are professors; one in three are managers, directors, chairs or vice-presidents. It’s the first time Conestoga has topped Wilfrid Laurier University in the number of six-figure employees.

Conestoga was told last week that its international enrolment will be cut by more than half this year as the federal government clamps down on foreign students. The college, which began 2023 with a surplus of $106 million, is assessing the impacts.

The University of Waterloo added 236 names last year to its list of six-figure earners. Almost 40 per cent of additions are directors, managers or vice-presidents. A smaller number of additions (one in four) are professors or lecturers.

The university is forecasting a deficit of $75 million for the upcoming fiscal year. It plans cost-cutting measures that include a hiring limit.

Wilfrid Laurier University added 64 employees earning $100,000 or more.

Nurses leap over police

Three local hospitals put an additional 148 nurses onto the top salary list in 2023. There are now 870 nursing jobs in the region that pay $100,000 or more.

It’s the first time there have been more nurses than police officers on the top salary list.

Records show 835 police employees earned six figures in 2023.

Nursing wages have been rising in recent years because of overtime, general wage increases, vacation payouts for nurses who had to work through days off, and bonuses to help keep overworked nurses on the job.

Front-line guardians of health and safety (firefighters, paramedics, police officers and nurses) have been moving steadily onto the sunshine list for more than a decade.

In 2013 there were 574 people with these front-line jobs who earned $100,000 or more. Last year there were 2,174.

Teaching dominates

Teachers or scholars continue to account for almost two-thirds of public servants earning $100,000 or more in this region (excluding direct provincial employees).

Employers include two local universities, two local school boards, Conestoga College, and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Last year these employers put 7,221 people onto the sunshine list. The year before it was 6,603.

The Perimeter Institute is a standout.

Last year it placed six employees among the 20 highest-paid public servants in the region.

The top 20 salaries ranged from $340,130 to $585,696.

No other employer put more people among the top 20 salaries; the University of Waterloo placed five on the list.