Who is York Region's top-paid mayor? Four charts take a dive into Ontario's 2020 Sunshine List

Thestar.com
March 30, 2021
Amanda Persico

The annual public sector salary disclosure for 2020 is out. The list includes municipal and regional staff, elected officials, teachers and other school board staff, police services and public transit workers -- all paid for by the mighty tax dollar.

Salaries listed do not include taxable benefits.

Here’s a breakdown of who made what and how much:

Vaughan tops the list with the most municipal employees earning more than $100,000 in 2020 with 601 employees and only 29 employees in King Township.

Vaughan also has the most fire personnel, from fire chief and deputy chiefs, to firefighters and prevention officers, on the 2020 public sector salary disclosure list -- 260.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti is the top earning mayor in York Region -- $261,000. That amounts to about $0.75 per Markham resident. Meanwhile, King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini earns about $5.10 per King resident.

The region employs 4,800 full-time, part-time and casual employees, excluding York Regional Police.

About 30 per cent earned more than $100,000 in 2020. More than 40 employees earned more than $200,000 last year, including three who earned more than $300,000.

There are more than 2,400 full- and part-time employees at York Regional Police, including more than 1,600 sworn officers and 600 civilian members.

Of those employees, about 63 per cent earned more than $100,000 last year, including 972 police officers, 140 sergeants and 137 detectives.

Between the public and Catholic school boards, more than 770 elementary school teachers and 1,900 secondary school teachers earned more than $100,000 in 2020.

Elementary and secondary teachers made up about 22 and 55 per cent of Sunshine earners respectively.