Ontario government repealed a Bill that had capped teacher salaries - that resulted in retroactive salary increases being handed out

By Jim Portside

April 1^st, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

The Sunshine List was created by the Mike Harris government in 2006.

Why are there so many teachers on the 2024 Sunshine List?

The Sunshine List was first released in 1996. The list shows us the names of Ontario public sector employees earning $100,000 or more. The $100,000 threshold has not changed since 1996. Using the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $100,000 in 1996 is the equivalent of $185,017 in today’s dollars.

The 2023 list contains the names of 300,681 people.

The 2024 list contains the names of 377,667 people.

In 2019 the Ford government passed Bill 124 – “Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act”. The bill capped salary increases for employees of hospitals, universities, schools, long-term care homes, and non-profit organizations receiving government funding.

The public sector employees took the government to court and won. In February 2024, the Ontario government repealed Bill 124. Collective Bargaining Agreements often contain a “reopener” clause that allows for renegotiation of the agreement’s terms if certain conditions are met.

Teachers demonstrating against government cuts in education.

The conditions were met and the retroactive salary increases were handed out, causing a significant one-time salary boost for many of the employees affected by Bill 124. The scale of this is so massive that the hit to the projected 2024-2025 provincial budget deficit is around $6 billion. If Bill 124 had remained in effect the province’s deficit would have been $600 million.

The Sunshine List groups people by sector. Working with just the “School Boards” sector we can see the following:

In 2023 School Boards employed 80,282 people earning $100,000 or more, 60,516 of those people have the word “Teacher” in their job title.

In 2024 School Boards employed 118,050 people earning $100,000 or more, 92,472 of those people have the word “Teacher” in their job title. That’s a whopping 52.8% increase.

We should see things return to normal on the 2025 Sunshine List.