{"id":1081,"date":"2026-03-28T13:51:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicpaypulse.com\/public-sector-insights\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2026-03-28T13:51:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:51:30","slug":"ontario-sunshine-list-2025-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicpaypulse.com\/public-sector-insights\/2026\/03\/28\/ontario-sunshine-list-2025-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario Sunshine List 2025 Results: We Called It – Here’s What the Numbers Actually Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

tl;dr:<\/strong> The 2025 Ontario Sunshine List dropped on March 27, 2026. A record 404,922 public sector employees made the cut – a 7% increase from 2024. Total disclosed salaries hit $54.64 billion. Ontario Power Generation dominated the top spots again, and yes, the $100K threshold conversation is louder than ever. We predicted most of this back in October. Here’s how it all played out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in October 2025, we put out our predictions for what the Ontario Sunshine List 2025 results would look like when they landed in spring 2026. We said the list would almost certainly cross 400,000 employees for the first time ever. We said Ontario Power Generation would own the top spots again. And we said the pressure around the frozen $100,000 threshold wasn’t going anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the 2025 Ontario Sunshine List dropped on March 27, 2026 – and the numbers are in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s walk through what actually happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Big Number: 404,922 People on the List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We predicted the list would pass 400,000. It did – by nearly 5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 404,922 public sector employees are named in the 2025 disclosure, representing a 7% increase over 2024’s 377,665 entries. That 7% jump is actually more moderate than the year before. In 2024, the list grew by a striking 25%. So while growth has slowed a little, it’s still consistent, and it’s still pushing the list into new territory with every passing year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Sunshine List expenditure for 2025 came in at $54.64 billion. That’s the combined salary figure for everyone on the list – a number that probably deserves a moment of reflection on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context, that’s not the entire Ontario public sector wage bill. It’s specifically the portion tied to employees earning $100,000 or more. But it’s a useful signal of just how much of the public payroll now sits above a threshold that was set in 1996 and has never been adjusted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Drove the Growth This Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Ontario’s President of the Treasury Board, Caroline Mulroney, three specific factors pushed salaries upward in 2025: retroactive payments from collective bargaining, new contract outcomes, and – interestingly – an additional pay period for several organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That last one is easy to overlook. An extra pay cycle in a calendar year can push annual salary totals just enough to clear the $100,000 mark for employees sitting right at the edge. It’s a mechanical factor, not a raise – but it still shows up on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 50% of the list’s growth came from municipalities. And more than half of the total list is made up of public service organizations like school boards, hospitals, and public health units – primarily nurses and teachers. These aren’t outlier earners or executives. They’re career professionals whose wages have slowly climbed over the years to meet a threshold that hasn’t moved in three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re interested in how collective bargaining shapes these trends, you can browse more articles on public pay trends at PublicPayPulse Public Sector Insights<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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OPG Still Runs the Top of the List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We called this one too. Ontario Power Generation employees dominated the highest-paid spots again in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former OPG President and CEO Kenneth Hartwick topped the list with a salary of just over $1.9 million – specifically $1,907,408. Current CEO Nicolle Butcher came in second at $1,596,218, and Chief Nuclear Officer Steve Gregoris placed third at $1,092,854. In fact, five of the top five spots and seven of the top ten all belong to OPG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s not a surprise when you consider the scale of what OPG manages – roughly half of Ontario’s electricity generation, including major nuclear facilities. The compensation reflects the complexity and risk profile of those roles, even if the numbers are jarring to look at next to, say, a public school teacher just clearing the $100K threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some other names worth noting from this year’s list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n