Healthcare sector leaders were the top earners in Hamilton in 2023, according to the province’s annual Public Sector Salary Disclosure Report - aka the Sunshine List - released at the end of March.
The annual report provides the salaries, benefits and severance information of publicly employed individuals earning $100,000 or more. The list is formally released under 1996's Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act.
President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences Rob McIsaac was the top earner in Hamilton, with a salary of $687,201.38. Elizabeth Buller, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System had a salary of $657,635.40.
Additional notable salaries:
Hamilton Police Service Chief Frank Bergen was the highest paid municipal employee, with a salary of $374,492.91, and the city’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Elizabeth Richardson earned $333,067.67. Hamilton Fire Chief David Cunliffe was paid $214,026.82.
The former City Manager, listed as Elspeth Smith, earned a salary of $321,598.06. Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath’s 2023 salary was listed as $201,592.27.
In the education sector, McMaster professor Mohit Bhandari earned a salary of $632,224.54, while the university’s President and Vice-Chancellor David Farrar earned $456,307.53. Dean and Vice President of McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences Paul O’Byrne was paid $459,373.32.
Mohawk College President and CEO Paul Armstrong and the college’s chief operating officer Ron McKerlie each earned $292,734.86 in 2023 according to the report.
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Director of Education Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini earned $255,055.35, while her counterpart at the Hamilton Catholic board, David Hansen, earned $235,736.93.
The top earner in the province once again was Ontario Power Generation president and CEO Kenneth Hartwick with a salary of $1,925,372, topping his 2022 salary of $1,726,068.02.
