OTTAWA – The City of Ottawa is employing 3,831 people who made the Sunshine List in 2018.

The Sunshine List is the list of public sector employees in Ontario that make a salary of $100,000 per year or more. The government published the list every year since 1996 and yesterday (March 27) released the 2018 list.

“Since the provincial legislation passed in 1996, the city has disclosed the names, positions, salary paid and taxable benefits of employees who receive over $100,000 in overall compensation,” City of Ottawa human resources director Elizabeth Marland stated in a memo to council yesterday. “In 2018, 3,831 employees were on the list, which includes the City, Ottawa Public Library and Ottawa Police Service. Of the 3,831 employees on the list, 58 per cent are first responders (Ottawa Police Service – 1,330, Ottawa Fire Services – 695, Ottawa Paramedic Service – 199). The total number of city employees (excluding Ottawa Police Service and Ottawa Public Library employees) on the list is 2,484.”

Fifty-four per cent of city employees on the list have a base salary less than $100,000, but are on the list because of earnings from one or more of the following reasons:

• retroactive payments (including economic increases)
• any premiums (including overtime, stand-by, shift differential and on-call)
• vacation cash-outs
• banked overtime cash-outs
• salary continuance (for employees who have left the city)

Public sector employers with significant funding levels from the Ontario provincial government are included on the Public Sector Salary Disclosure list. Along with the City of Ottawa, this includes other organizations such as the Government of Ontario, Crown Agencies, Municipalities, Hospitals, Boards of Public Health, School Boards, Universities, Colleges, Hydro One, and Ontario Power Generation.

“Since the act was enacted in 1996, there has been no adjustment to the disclosure threshold,” Marland said. “If the $100,000 threshold was updated to account for inflation, it would now be $148,718. If the disclosure threshold was adjusted to this amount, 239 municipal employees would be included on the list.”