Three of the five highest-paid public employees locally last year worked at the University of Guelph, including president and CEO Charlotte Yates who once again topped the annual sunshine list.
A total of 2,304 public employees make this year's list, up from 2,099 a year ago.
According to Ontario public sector salary disclosure documents released on Friday, Yates was given $423,648 in pay for the year, as well as $14,119 in taxable benefits. She’s one of 1,149 U of G employees who broke the $100,000 threshold for inclusion on the sunshine list.
For comparison’s sake, Conestoga College president and CEO John Tibbits received $496,716 in pay and $2,920 in taxable benefits. Conestoga has a satellite campus in Guelph.
The annual disclosure was put in place in 1996 and the benchmark for making the list has not moved since then. Based on the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $100,000 in 1996 would be the equivalent of $175,368.90 in 2023.
Rounding out the top five highest-paid public workers in Guelph last year were Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health ($320,544), physician Julie Renaud ($304,613), U of G professor Alejandro Marangoi ($303,552) and Gwen Chapman, U of G vice-president and provost, at $299,025.
There were 326 Guelph General Hospital employees who made the sunshine list, topped by Marianne Walker, who retired as president and CEO last April. Her successor, Mark Walton, was paid $234,338 in 2023.
Led by director of education Peter Sovran there were 1,332 Upper Grand District School Board workers to surpass $100,000 in salary. Sovran received $279,505.
The director of education was also the top-paid worker at the Wellington Catholic District School Board, which had 317 people make the list. Michael Glazier’s pay reached $213,414.
Also on the list are 408 workers for the City of Guelph, and 211 Guelph Police Service employees.
