Who made the Sunshine List in York Region? Paramedics, police officers, nurses and teachers

Yorkregion.com
April 12, 2022
Amanda Persico

The annual public sector salary disclosure for 2021 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.

And it’s the usual suspects on the list -- CEOs, CAOs, mayors, directors and commissioners.

But that’s not all. The 2021 Sunshine List also includes hundreds of nurses and firefighters and thousands of elementary and high school teachers and police officers.

Salaries listed do not include benefits or board honorariums.

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

Click on a municipality or school board to find out more.

Aurora: 62

East Gwillimbury: 55

Georgina: 94
King Township: 37

Markham: 415

Newmarket: 182
Richmond Hill: 328

Vaughan: 636

Whitchurch-Stouffville: 63
York Region: 1,475

York Regional Police: 1,579

York Region school boards: 7,026

There were 1,475 Regional Municipality of York employees listed on the Sunshine List, including 227 paramedics, 40 public health nurses and 29 working for York Regional Transit.

That’s less than a one per cent increase in employees earning $100,000 in 2020.

There were 44 regional employees who earned $200,000 or more, including four who earned more than $300,000 in 2021.

Top five regional employees include: (excluding benefits)

$379,720 -- Medical officer of health, Karim Kurji;

$330,512 -- Director Corporate Communications, Patrick Casey;

$328,100 -- CAO, Bruce Macgregor;

$307,413 -- Associate medical officer of health, John Richard Gould; and

$288,772 -- Associate medical officer of health, Fareen Karachiwalla.

There were 1,578 York Regional Police employees who earned more than $100,000, including 28 inspectors, 171 detectives and 1,015 police constables.

Of those, 15 YRP employees earned more than $200,000 in 2021.

The top five York Regional Police employees include: (excluding benefits)

$298,522 -- Police Chief, Jim MacSween;

$216,923 -- Deputy Chief, Robertson Rouse;

$251,335 -- Deputy Chief, Brian Bigras;

$238,628 -- Deputy Chief, Cecile Hammond; and

$232,083 -- Deputy Chief, Paulo Da Silva.

Vaughan tops the list with the most municipal employees earning more than $100,000 in 2021 with 636 employees and only 37 employees in King Township.

Vaughan also has the most fire personnel, from fire and deputy chiefs to firefighters and prevention officers, on the 2021 public sector salary disclosure list -- 200.

Aurora had the highest increase in the number of Sunshine employees, a 38 per cent increase compared to 2020.

York Region council chairperson Wayne Emmerson earned $232,379 in 2021. That amounts to about $0.19 per York Region resident.

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti is the top earning mayor in York Region -- $253,416. That amounts to about $0.75 per Markham resident. Meanwhile, King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini earns about $5.58 per King Township resident.

Between the public and Catholic school boards, 7,026 employees earned more than $100,000 in 2021, including 3,723 elementary school and 2,406 secondary school teachers.

Other public employers include hospitals and conservation authorities.

At both Southlake Regional Health Centre and Mackenzie Health, 503 employees earned $100,000 or more, with 273 at Oak Valley Health.

Between the three hospitals, 659 nurses made the Sunshine list -- 52 per cent of employees.

At Southlake, 15 employees earned more than $200,000, including nine who earned more than $300,000 and one who earned more than $500,000.

At Mackenzie Health, 17 employees earned more than $200,000, including nine who earned more than $300,000 and one who earned more than $600,000.

At Oak Valley, four employees earned more than $200,000, including one who earned more than $400,000.