Ontario released its 2025 Sunshine List on Friday, March 27, and the annual disclosure of public sector employees earning more than $100,000 has once again drawn attention to compensation levels across municipalities, school boards, hospitals, and government agencies.
Among the notable findings this year: Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti earned $308,179 in 2025, making him the highest-paid mayor in the province. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow ranked second among Ontario mayors. The list as a whole grew by approximately seven percent compared to 2024, with over 400,000 public sector employees now earning above the $100,000 threshold.
What the Sunshine List Shows for Markham
Mayor Scarpitti's compensation places him at the top of the provincial rankings for municipal leaders, a position that reflects both the size and complexity of governing a city of Markham's scale. With a population exceeding 350,000, Markham is one of the largest municipalities in Ontario and one of the most diverse cities in Canada. The mayor's office oversees a municipal government that manages a substantial annual budget, a large workforce, and the ongoing demands of a rapidly growing city.
Beyond the mayor's office, several senior City of Markham officials also appeared on the 2025 Sunshine List. Trinela Cane, Commissioner of Corporate Services, was among the higher earners on staff, along with other commissioners and directors overseeing key municipal departments including planning, engineering, and community services.
The City of Markham's total representation on the Sunshine List reflects a broader trend across Ontario municipalities. As cities grow and the demands on local government become more complex, competitive compensation is often necessary to attract and retain qualified senior leadership. This is particularly true in the Greater Toronto Area, where municipal governments compete with the private sector and other public agencies for talent.
Provincial Trends in Public Sector Compensation
The growth of the Sunshine List has been a consistent trend since its introduction in 1996. That year, roughly 4,500 public sector employees earned above $100,000. Three decades later, the list now includes more than 400,000 names. Critics have long pointed out that the $100,000 threshold has not been adjusted for inflation since the list was created, meaning that a salary that was genuinely exceptional in 1996 is now common for many experienced professionals in the public sector.
Adjusted for inflation, the $100,000 threshold from 1996 would be approximately $170,000 in 2025 dollars. This means a significant portion of the names on the Sunshine List are employees earning salaries that would not have qualified under the original intent of the disclosure requirement.
The former Ontario Power Generation President and CEO Kenneth Hartwick topped the overall list with the highest individual compensation, though the exact figure was not immediately released in the initial disclosure. The list encompasses employees across all areas of the public sector, including hospitals, universities, school boards, police services, transit agencies, and Crown corporations.
York Region on the Sunshine List
Beyond the City of Markham, other York Region entities are well represented on the 2025 Sunshine List. The York Region District School Board accounted for a substantial portion of entries, with total salaries exceeding $948 million across all employees on the list. This reflects the large number of experienced teachers, principals, and administrative staff who earn above the threshold.
York Regional Police, York Region municipal staff, and local hospital employees also contributed significant numbers to the list. For York Region as a whole, the Sunshine List provides a snapshot of the compensation landscape across the public sector in one of Ontario's fastest-growing regions.
Context and Perspective
The Sunshine List serves an important transparency function, allowing residents to see how public funds are being used to compensate government employees. However, the raw numbers require context to be properly understood.
Mayoral compensation, for example, often includes not just a base salary but also benefits, expenses, and allowances that are part of the total compensation package approved by municipal councils. In Markham's case, the mayor's role involves overseeing a city that processes billions of dollars in development activity, manages major infrastructure projects, and navigates the complex intergovernmental relationships that come with being part of York Region and the Greater Toronto Area.
For residents interested in exploring the full Sunshine List data, the Ontario government publishes the complete dataset on its website, and third-party tools such as sunshinelist.ca provide searchable databases that allow users to look up specific individuals, employers, or salary ranges.
What This Means for Markham Residents
The annual Sunshine List release is a reminder that public sector compensation is a matter of public record in Ontario. For Markham residents, the data provides insight into how the city's leadership is compensated relative to other municipalities and other public sector employers.
Whether one views the compensation levels as appropriate or excessive often depends on perspective. Proponents argue that competitive pay is essential to attracting qualified leadership for a city as large and complex as Markham. Critics counter that municipal salaries should be benchmarked more carefully against the private sector and against the expectations of taxpayers who fund them.
Regardless of where one falls in that debate, the Sunshine List fulfills its core purpose: ensuring that public sector compensation remains visible to the people who pay for it.
For more local news, business updates, and community coverage in Markham and Richmond Hill, visit MarkhamBusiness.com.