Ontario’s 1998 sunshine list: every disclosed public-sector salary for the year, with top earners, sectors, and employers.
In 1998, 6,296 employees at 441 Ontario public-sector employers were disclosed on the province’s sunshine list. The average disclosed salary was $122,127 and the median was $112,006 — the disclosure covers only employees above the $100,000 threshold in force that year, not the entire public-sector workforce.
Compared with 1997, the list grew by 918 names (+17%, from 5,378 to 6,296), and the average disclosed salary rose 0.2% from $121,940.
The highest-paid person on the 1998 list was B Debs (Vice President) at Ontario Hydro, at $1,344,860. The full top 25 is below; for interactive filtering of all 6,296 records, use the data explorer or see the Ontario dashboard for the latest year.
Top 25 by salary on the 1998 disclosure. Click a name for their full year-by-year profile.
| # | Name | Position | Employer | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B Debs | Vice President | Ontario Hydro | $1,344,860 |
| 2 | C Andognini | Exec VP & Chief Nuclear Officer | Ontario Hydro | $1,275,448 |
| 3 | R Osborne | President & CEO | Ontario Hydro | $1,150,000 |
| 4 | W Peabody | Vice President | Ontario Hydro | $948,188 |
| 5 | O.A. Kupcis | President & CEO | Ontario Hydro | $942,959 |
| 6 | R Machon | Vice President | Ontario Hydro | $789,625 |
| 7 | E Preston | Vice President - Naop Coordination | Ontario Hydro | $781,790 |
| 8 | Alan Hudson | President & Chief Executive Officer | Toronto Hospital | $490,000 |
| 9 | Michael Strofolino | President & CEO | Hospital for Sick Children | $458,888 |
| 10 | R Ferguson | Vice President | Ontario Hydro | $453,384 |
| 11 | G Sanford | Director, Technical Services & Eng. | Ontario Hydro | $449,912 |
| 12 | E Clitheroe | Exec VP & Managing Director | Ontario Hydro | $412,980 |
| 13 | J Fox | Exec VP & Managing Director, GENCO | Ontario Hydro | $411,220 |
| 14 | John H Wedge | Surgeon-in-Chief | Hospital for Sick Children | $369,025 |
| 15 | Dale Richmond | President & CEO | Ontario Mun. Empl. Retirement Bd. | $353,785 |
| 16 | Michael Baker | VP Med. Directorate/Physician-in-Chief | Toronto Hospital | $335,670 |
| 17 | Jeffrey Lozon | President and CEO | St. Michael's Hospital | $331,500 |
| 18 | R. Scott Rowand | President and CEO | Hamilton Health Science Ctr. | $328,426 |
| 19 | Stephen Herbert | President and Chief Executive Officer | Baycrest Centre For Geriatric Care | $327,001 |
| 20 | Tony Dagnone | President and CEO | London Health Sciences Centre | $325,000 |
| 21 | David Brown | Chair and Chief Executive Officer | Ontario Securities Commission | $316,098 |
| 22 | G. Tom Gunn | Senior Vice President, Investments | Ontario Mun. Empl. Retirement Bd. | $309,567 |
| 23 | Je Stothers | Director, Internal Investments | Ontario Hydro | $308,612 |
| 24 | Paul Walker | VP Surg. Directorate/Surgeon-in-Chief | Toronto Hospital | $306,250 |
| 25 | Michael Latimer | Managing Director (ORC) | Ontario Mun. Empl. Retirement Bd. | $305,943 |
| Sector | Employees | Avg Salary | Top Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Agencies | 1,818 | $119,832 | $1,344,860 |
| Universities | 1,643 | $116,168 | $289,808 |
| Government of Ontario – Ministries | 1,088 | $122,641 | $259,295 |
| Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 708 | $150,105 | $490,000 |
| School Boards | 379 | $113,433 | $240,526 |
| Municipalities & Services | 314 | $114,576 | $186,263 |
| Other Public Sector Employers | 297 | $119,947 | $232,905 |
| Colleges | 49 | $120,264 | $191,813 |
The 15 employers with the most disclosed employees in 1998.
| Employer | Sector | Employees | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario Hydro | Crown Agencies | 1,412 | $118,034 |
| University Of Toronto | Universities | 687 | $116,834 |
| Attorney General | Government of Ontario – Ministries | 622 | $119,347 |
| University Of Western Ontario | Universities | 152 | $121,789 |
| Health | Government of Ontario – Ministries | 144 | $143,533 |
| Cancer Care Ontario | Crown Agencies | 138 | $120,283 |
| University Of Ottawa | Universities | 126 | $113,282 |
| University Of Waterloo | Universities | 104 | $109,718 |
| City Of Toronto | Municipalities & Services | 100 | $116,795 |
| York University | Universities | 94 | $119,605 |
| McMaster University | Universities | 93 | $121,128 |
| Queen's University | Universities | 91 | $119,225 |
| Hospital for Sick Children | Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 83 | $159,809 |
| Workplace Safety and Ins. Board | Crown Agencies | 81 | $124,486 |
| Toronto Hospital | Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 77 | $165,839 |
Ontario’s Sunshine List is the original Canadian salary disclosure: the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996, passed under the Harris government, requires every organization that receives provincial funding — ministries, municipalities, hospitals, school boards, universities, and Crown corporations — to publish the name, position, salary, and taxable benefits of every employee paid $100,000 or more. This site carries the complete disclosure record from 1996 through 2025, including the inaugural 1996 list of just 4,501 names.
The $100,000 threshold has never been adjusted for inflation. In today’s dollars it would sit near $185,000 — which is why the list has grown from 4,501 people in 1996 to 6,296 in 1998 — roughly 1× more. What began as a register of senior executives now includes nurses, teachers, police constables, and transit operators. Track that expansion year by year in 30 years of Sunshine List growth or see who tops the current list on the Ontario Sunshine List 2025 page.
Ontario’s disclosure is also one of seven this site covers — compare public-sector pay with British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan, each with its own threshold and disclosure rules. For how the Ontario list works — who is included, when it comes out, and what counts as salary — see the Sunshine List FAQ.