Sunshine List Threshold: Why It’s Still $100K After Nearly 30 Years

The sunshine list threshold has been stuck at $100,000 since the mid-1990s, and that number hasn’t aged well. What once signaled a genuinely high-earning public-sector job now covers a huge range of roles — from senior administrators to teachers, nurses, and frontline specialists who’ve simply kept pace with inflation.

Flat illustration of the sunshine list threshold shown as a $100,000 document with a magnifying glass.

Yet the threshold hasn’t moved an inch.

That gap between the original intent and today’s reality is why the list sparks so much debate each year. To make sense of it, it helps to look back at where the $100,000 line came from, how inflation changed its meaning, and why governments keep leaving it exactly where it is.

A Quick Origin Story: Where the $100,000 Threshold Came From

The Sunshine List started in 1996, introduced under Premier Mike Harris during a push for greater government transparency. Back then, earning $100,000 in the public sector was genuinely rare. It signaled a senior job — often executive-level — with responsibilities (and salaries) well above the norm.

At the time:

Median household income in Ontario hovered around $52,000.
Only a small fraction of public-sector employees earned six figures.
$100,000 carried the same purchasing power as roughly $170,000–$180,000 today.

In other words, the Sunshine List originally captured elite salaries, not mid-career professionals or specialized frontline workers.

But nothing in the legislation required the threshold to rise with inflation. So it stayed put.

And stayed.
And stayed.

Inflation Happened — But the Threshold Didn’t Move

Here’s the part that always catches people off guard: if the government had simply adjusted the threshold for inflation, the Sunshine List today wouldn’t start at $100,000. It would be closer to $180,000.

That gap matters, because the cost of living hasn’t just nudged upward — it’s climbed dramatically:

Housing costs have increased significantly since the late 1990s.
Inflation surged between 2021–2023, adding pressure to wages across the public sector.
Workforce growth means more employees cross the threshold each year simply because salaries have kept up with market rates.

It’s not surprising the list has ballooned. In fact, there are now hundreds of thousands of employees on it — far beyond what the original framers likely imagined.

Still, the $100,000 line remains frozen.

Why Keeping the Threshold at $100,000 Is So Controversial

Every spring, when the Sunshine List comes out, the same debates flare up. And honestly, they’re understandable.

1. The “Too Many Names” Problem

A list meant to spotlight unusually high salaries now includes:

Police sergeants
Nurses and nurse practitioners
Teachers nearing the top of their pay grid
IT specialists
Engineers
Project managers

In many cases, these are jobs where the market rate simply moved upward — but the threshold didn’t.

Because of that, critics argue the list no longer highlights outliers. It just highlights normal wage inflation.

2. It Can Distort Public Perception

A teacher earning $102,000 today isn’t living the life of someone earning the equivalent 1996 amount. But when the list comes out, headlines often treat everyone above the threshold as part of an income elite.

That disconnect fuels frustration, especially among nurses and other frontline staff whose pay bumps reflect experience, overtime, or workplace shortages — not wealth.

3. The $200,000 Debate Is Growing

As more mid-income professions hit the $100,000 mark, attention is naturally shifting toward the next unofficial “signal point”: $200,000.

You can already see public conversations moving in that direction — especially as the list approaches 400,000 employees, a milestone explored in other posts on PublicPayPulse.

If you’re curious about broader trends, you can browse more articles on government pay and workforce data at our Public Sector Insights page:
https://publicpaypulse.com/public-sector-insights/

Why the Threshold Stays Frozen Anyway

So why not update the number? You’d think indexing it to inflation would be the simplest fix.

Here are the reasons it hasn’t happened:

1. Transparency Politics

Raising the threshold might be perceived as reducing accountability. No government wants the headline:
“Province raises Sunshine List limit, hides thousands of salaries.”

Even if that isn’t the intention, the optics are tough.

2. The List Has Become a Cultural Ritual

Love it or hate it, the Sunshine List is part of how Ontarians understand public-sector pay. People expect it every March, and they expect the same threshold. Changing it becomes a political third rail.

3. It Still Draws Attention to High Compensation

Even with the list’s inflation problems, many roles earning $100,000+ are senior, specialized, or managerial. And citizens — understandably — want visibility into how public funds support salaries at those levels.

4. It Would Require Updating Legislation

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act doesn’t include a built-in inflator. Raising the threshold would require political will, legislative changes, and a willingness to wear the public reaction.

Governments tend to avoid conversations that start with
“Why are you shielding high salaries?”

So the result is… inertia.

Is Keeping the Threshold Still Useful? Many Say Yes — But It Needs Fixing

Even among public-sector employees themselves, you’ll hear mixed views.

What people appreciate:

It keeps compensation transparent.
It strengthens public trust.
It sets a clear line for disclosure.

What critics argue:

It’s outdated.
It misleads the public about what’s considered “high income.”
It unfairly targets frontline professions that didn’t historically earn six figures.
It has grown so large that it’s lost meaning.

A more nuanced list — maybe with bands or categories — could offer a clearer picture. But again, that requires governments to reopen the legislation.

Until then, the number stays the same.

What Might Happen Next

There’s slow but growing pressure to revisit the threshold, especially as the list expands each year.

Some ideas being floated in policy circles include:

Indexing the threshold to inflation going forward
Introducing multiple thresholds (e.g., $100k, $150k, $200k)
Category-based reporting — executives vs. frontline roles
A dual system where salaries appear but can be filtered by job class

For now, though, it’s all talk. The $100,000 line will likely stay where it is until a government decides the political cost is worth revisiting.

Final Thoughts: The Number Stayed the Same, But the Economy Didn’t

If you’ve been wondering why the sunshine list threshold hasn’t changed in almost thirty years, the short answer is: politics, optics, and inertia.

The long answer is everything we just walked through:

The list was designed for an era where $100,000 was rare.
Inflation dramatically eroded what that number means.
Tens of thousands of everyday public-sector jobs now cross that line.
Raising the threshold is politically uncomfortable — so it doesn’t happen.

But understanding this context helps you read the Sunshine List for what it really is today:
useful, yes — but not quite what it was designed to be.

If you want to explore more data on public-sector pay, workforce trends, or salary transparency, you’ll find plenty of deep dives at our Public Sector Insights hub.