Every year, provinces across Canada publish a list of public-sector employees who earn six figures or more — the famous “Sunshine List.” And every year the same question lights up search engines: who is actually at the very top?
It is rarely the premier. Premiers typically earn far less than the people running power utilities, pension funds, hospital networks and universities. The real top earners are CEOs of Crown corporations, university presidents, hospital executives and the heads of massive public pension managers — many of whom clear seven figures.
Why this list fascinates people
Public salaries are, by law, public. But almost nobody reads the raw disclosure spreadsheets — they have tens of thousands of rows. That gap between “technically public” and “actually findable” is exactly why a clean, ranked breakdown gets shared so widely. You can surface the top of any province in seconds: open the top earners for Ontario or browse every province.
What to look at for each province
- The single highest-paid individual and their title.
- The top earners and what they run — utility, pension fund, hospital, university or transit.
- How the top salary compares to the premier’s — usually a jaw-dropping multiple.
- Year-over-year movement — who jumped and who dropped off (see our biggest movers pages).
The pattern repeats nationwide: the biggest cheques go to people managing the biggest pools of money or the most complex operations. Pension-fund and electricity-utility executives dominate the very top, because those organizations argue they compete with the private sector for talent.
The catch nobody mentions: that is the gross number
The Sunshine List shows gross pay. A headline of “$400,000” is not what lands in a bank account — after federal and provincial tax, CPP and EI, a high six-figure salary takes home far less. Curious what any of these salaries actually pays? Drop the number into our take-home calculator.