On March 19, the Ontario government released the salaries of Ontario Public Service and broader public sector employees who were paid $100,000 or more in 2020, in accordance with The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996. The annual publication is popularly known as the Sunshine List.
According to the Ontario government, almost 75 per cent of the growth of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure is due to increases in the hospitals, boards of public health, school boards sectors. Registered Nurses contributed to approximately 60 per cent of the increase in the hospitals and boards of public health sector in 2020. Additionally, teachers contributed to 97 per cent of the increase in the school boards sector.
Compensation as captured in the disclosure list can reflect overtime payments, as well as growth or natural progression through salary ranges, promotions, severance payments, one-time performance-based payments and payments required on retirement.
The pandemic created significant demands on many parts of the public service to support Ontarians. Staff in many sectors, notably health care, worked extraordinary hours to help keep Ontario safe. Pandemic-related payments, such as significant overtime hours and pandemic pay, resulted in higher incomes year-over-year for some employees, including the potential to surpass the $100,000 threshold.
Health
At the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU), 36 employees received a salary of $100,000 or more in 2020. The highest salary was $357,436.14 and was paid to Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis. The next three highest salaries were paid to directors within the EOHU. Director Nicole Laplante’s salary in 2020 was $172,623.14 and Director Therese Bourgeois was paid $157,317.78 in 2020. EOHU Director Frank Spagnolo’s salary in 2020 was $148,726.22.
Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH), has 90 staff members on the 2020 Sunshine List, led by CEO Marc Leboutillier at $222,509.69. The remaining employees on the list include many managers and registered nurses. HGH Vice President of Finance Marcel Leclair had the second-highest salary at the facility in 2020 at $207,586.62. The third highest HGH salary over $100,000 in 2020 went to Registered Nurse Marilyn San Pablo who was paid $189,131.85.
At Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, 18 staff members earned $100,000 or greater in 2020. Most of the employees in this category are nursing staff. In fact, Registered Nurse Dularie Bhagwandin had the top salary at the hospital in 2020 of $190,115.47. The second-highest salary at Glengarry Memorial Hospital in 2020 was paid to Registered Nurse Janice Gareau-Lacombe who received $149,542.08. Registered Nurse Micheline Jeaurond was paid the third-highest salary at the hospital in 2020. She was paid $133,332.89. Glengarry Memorial Hospital CEO Michael Cohen’s 2020 salary was $124,309.25.
The United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) is not directly a health care agency, but it does operate the paramedic service for the region. Paramedics accounted for a significant amount of the 74 UCPR employees who earned $100,000 or more in 2020. Emergency Services Director Marc-André Périard, whose department operates the paramedic service, received a salary of $126,303.84 in 2020. There were 39 other UCPR paramedics who received a salary of $100,000 or more in 2020. The highest of those salaries was paid to Paramedic Ingrid Kirallah who earned $120,449.26.
The UCPR also operates the Prescott and Russell Residence long-term care facility. Judith Richer, the Coordinator of Nursing Care at the Residence, received a salary in 2020 of $163,121.52 Residence Administrator Alexandre Gorman was paid $126,690.20 in 2020.
Education
All four school boards serving the surrounding area had significant numbers of employees at levels ranging from elementary teachers to the director of education who earned $100,000 or more in 2020.
The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), which is the English-language public school board had 319 personnel who received a salary of $100,000 or more in 2020. Director of Education Stephen Sliwa’s salary of $238,178.49 was at the top of the UCDSB list. The remaining Sunshine List salary earners at the UCDSB ranged from elementary teachers to superintendents. The Brockville-based UCDSB serves the united counties of Prescott and Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and Leeds and Grenville.
Among local UCDSB schools, Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute Principal Trevor Wheeler’s salary in 2020 was $132,226.12. The same salary was paid in 2020 to Glengarry District High School Principal Jennifer MacLachlan. Pleasant Corners Public School Principal Darryl Beck earned $122,906.94 in 2020, and Laggan Public School Principal Nichola Bond earned $115,741.76 in 2020.
The English-language Roman Catholic school board serving the region is the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO), which is based in Kemptville and serves Prescott and Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Leeds and Grenville, and Lanark counties. There were 110 members of the teaching staff and board management who received a salary of $100,000 or greater in 2020. The highest salary of $216,000 went to Director of Education John Cameron.
Locally, St. Jude Catholic School Principal Michelle Brasseur-Robillard’s salary in 2020 was $121,971.99.
The school board with the highest number of employees who received a salary of $100,000 or more in 2020 is the Ottawa-based Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO), the French-language public school board. A total of 452 board personnel, including teachers and principals are on the list, led by Director of Education Sylvie Tremblay whose salary was $191,768 in 2020. CEPEO operates schools not only in the local region but as far west as Trenton and includes schools in the City of Ottawa.
Among the two CEPEO schools in Hawkesbury, École secondaire publique Le Sommet Principal Anne Laflamme earned $135,471.62 in 2020, and École élémentaire publique Nouvel Horizon Principal received a salary of $138,078.18 in 2020.
The Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO) is the L’Orignal-based French-language Roman Catholic school board serving Prescott and Russell, and Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry counties. Director of Education François Turpin topped the list of board employees, including teaching staff, who were paid salaries of $100,000 or greater in 2020. Turpin’s salary was $270,492.04.
Principal Martin Robitaille of École élémentaire catholique St-Grégoire in Vankleek Hill, who also serves as Principal of École élémentaire catholique Curé Labrosse in St-Eugène, earned a salary of 132,266.08 in 2020.
At École secondarire catholique régionale de Hawkesbury, Principal Joey Bédard’s salary in 2020 was $130,373.97. École élémentaire catholique Paul VI Principal Pascale Desjardins was paid a salary of $132,266.08 in 2020.
Gaby Myre, who is Principal at École élémentaire catholique St-Jean-Baptiste in L’Orignal, received a salary of $135,203.44 in 2020.
Municipalities
Among local municipalities, the highest salary at the UCPR was paid to Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Stéphane Parisien who earned $225,081.59 in 2020. All heads of UCPR departments received salaries of more than $100,000 in 2020. The highest salary among the department heads was for Director of Human Resources Pierre Gauthier at $147,043.49. Director of Economic Development and Tourism Carole Lavigne’s salary in 2020 was $146,885.22. Director of Planning and Forestry Louis Prévost earned two cents less at $146,885.20
Champlain Township CAO Paula Knudsen was the highest-paid township employee in 2020. Her salary was $140,765.50. The second-highest municipal salary in Champlain Township in 2020 went to Director of Public Works James McMahon who was paid $109,730.36, followed by Chief Building Official Jacques Gauthier who had the third-highest salary of $109.365.08 in 2020.
At the Town of Hawkesbury, 10 current and former municipal employees are on the 2020 Sunshine List. Former CAO Daniel Gatien was paid $169,273.74 in 2020 and former Director of Recreation and Tourism Nicole Trudeau received a salary of $135,847.18 in 2020. Dominique Dussault, who is the town’s Director of Human Resources and is presently serving as Acting CAO, was paid a salary of $126,248.70 in 2020.
Three of Hawkesbury’s full-time firefighters earned more than $100,000 in 2020. The highest salary among the firefighters went to Fire Captain Michel Poulin who earned $127,922.24.
Two employees of the Township of Alfred and Plantagenet were paid salaries of more than $100,000 during the previous year. The highest salary went to Road Superintendent Roch Hébert who was paid $110,713. The second-highest municipal salary in Alfred and Plantagenet in 2020 was paid to Treasurer Josée Dallaire who received $103,163.
La Nation CAO Josée Brizard was the municipality’s top earner in 2020. Brizard’s salary for the year was $145,727.84. Two other municipal department heads were tied for second place. Treasurer Cécile Maisonneuve and Director of Public Works Marc Legault each received salaries of $129,918.88 in 2020. There were also four additional municipal employees in La Nation who earned more than $100,000 in 2020.
Casselman CAO Linda Desjardins-Bergeron received a salary of $142,274.56 in 2020 and municipal Director of Physical and Environmental Services Alain Castonguay’s 2020 salary was $117,352.99.
Township of East Hawkesbury CAO-Treasurer Luc Lalonde was the township’s only employee who received a salary of more than $100,000 in 2020. Lalonde was paid $102,325.
In North Glengarry Township, CAO Sarah Huskinson’s 2020 salary was the highest in the municipal government at $137,523.82. The second-highest municipal salary during the previous year went to Director of Finance and Treasurer Kimberley Goyette who was paid $112,145.80. Director of Building, Bylaw, and Planning Jacob Rheaume’s salary was the third highest on the municipal payroll in North Glengarry in 2020 at $110,898.99.
The complete 2020 Sunshine List data is available in a downloadable, machine-readable, sortable, searchable table format on Ontario.ca/salarydisclosure, .
