tl;dr
Most $100k+ earners in Ontario aren’t spread evenly across the public sector. Education leads by a wide margin, followed by municipalities and healthcare. These sectors dominate because of workforce size, pay grids, and how seniority and overtime stack up over time.
If you’ve ever scrolled through the Ontario Sunshine List and wondered where all these six-figure salaries are actually coming from, you’re not alone.
It can feel scattered at first. Teachers, nurses, city managers, professors, police officers. But once you group the data properly, a very clear picture shows up.
Using the latest data from PublicPayPulse’s Ontario Sunshine List, here’s how the top sectors rank by number of employees earning $100,000 or more.
Education dominates the Sunshine List
Education is the single largest source of 100k+ earners in Ontario. And it isn’t close.
Education sectors on the Sunshine List
- School Boards: 118,049
- Universities: 29,163
- Colleges: 11,200
That’s well over 150,000 education workers earning $100k+ in a single year.
This isn’t about unusually high pay at the top. It’s mostly driven by:
- Large workforce size
- Salary grids that rise with experience
- Senior teaching and administrative roles
- Inflation pushing long-tenured staff past the threshold
The $100,000 cutoff hasn’t moved since 1996. As a result, many experienced educators now cross it simply by staying in the profession long enough.
If you want to explore education salaries in more detail, you can browse related breakdowns in the Public Sector Insights section on PublicPayPulse.
Municipalities and local services come next
Right behind education are municipalities and municipal services, with:
- 76,456 employees earning $100k+
This category includes:
- City and regional government staff
- Municipal managers and department heads
- Police services (reported under municipal employers)
- Fire and emergency service leadership
Municipalities employ large, complex workforces. As cities grow, so do budgets, infrastructure, and accountability. That naturally pushes more senior roles above the Sunshine List threshold.
Police salaries, in particular, contribute heavily here once overtime and premium pay are included.
Healthcare remains one of the biggest contributors
Healthcare ranks third overall, but still represents a massive share of the Sunshine List.
- Hospitals and Boards of Public Health: 67,492 employees
This includes:
- Senior nurses and nurse managers
- Physicians and specialists
- Hospital administrators and executives
- Clinical specialists and advanced practice roles
Healthcare produces many 100k+ earners not because of excess, but because:
- The workforce is enormous
- Many roles require advanced training
- Overtime and shift premiums are common
Healthcare salaries tend to cluster tightly around the Sunshine List threshold, especially for experienced staff.
Provincial government ministries
The Ontario Public Service, through its ministries, accounts for:
- 31,507 employees earning $100k+
These are largely:
- Managers and directors
- Policy leaders
- Senior analysts
- Executives and deputy roles
Frontline OPS roles typically sit below $100k. It’s leadership and specialized positions that drive ministry representation on the list.
You can see how this works in practice in Ontario Public Service Pay Bands Explained (2025 Update).
Universities and colleges add steady volume
Post-secondary institutions appear twice in the rankings, but together they form a meaningful block.
- Universities: 29,163
- Colleges: 11,200
Most entries come from:
- Full professors
- Senior academic administrators
- Deans, chairs, and directors
Unlike some other sectors, post-secondary salaries tend to be predictable and stable. Fewer spikes, fewer surprises, but consistent Sunshine List presence year after year.
Crown agencies and utilities
Several Crown-related sectors round out the top 10.
- Crown Agencies: 18,725
- Ontario Power Generation: 10,267
These organizations often employ:
- Engineers
- Technical specialists
- Senior operators
- Executives competing with private-sector pay
Their workforces are smaller, but compensation is more concentrated above $100k due to technical complexity and operational risk.
What this tells us about 100k+ earners in Ontario
Ontario’s Sunshine List isn’t dominated by one profession. It’s dominated by scale.
Sectors rise to the top when they have:
- Large workforces
- Structured pay progression
- Long-tenured employees
- Overtime or premium pay
Education leads because it combines all four. Municipalities and healthcare follow closely for the same reasons.
If you want to dig deeper, explore interactive charts, sector comparisons, and searchable salary data in the PublicPayPulse Ontario Sunshine List and the broader Public Sector Insights section.