Ontario’s 2001 sunshine list: every disclosed public-sector salary for the year, with top earners, sectors, and employers.
In 2001, 13,144 employees at 539 Ontario public-sector employers were disclosed on the province’s sunshine list. The average disclosed salary was $129,685 and the median was $115,801 — the disclosure covers only employees above the $100,000 threshold in force that year, not the entire public-sector workforce.
Compared with 2000, the list grew by 2,792 names (+27%, from 10,352 to 13,144), and the average disclosed salary rose 2.7% from $126,235.
The highest-paid person on the 2001 list was Ronald W. Osborne (President & CEO) at Ontario Power Generation, at $1,874,103. The full top 25 is below; for interactive filtering of all 13,144 records, use the data explorer or see the Ontario dashboard for the latest year.
Top 25 by salary on the 2001 disclosure. Click a name for their full year-by-year profile.
| # | Name | Position | Employer | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronald W. Osborne | President & CEO | Ontario Power Generation | $1,874,103 |
| 2 | Eleanor Clitheroe | President & CEO, Hydro One | Hydro One | $1,622,228 |
| 3 | Eugene Preston | EVP, Chief Nuclear Officer | Ontario Power Generation | $1,590,206 |
| 4 | Graham A. Brown | Chief Operating Officer | Ontario Power Generation | $808,334 |
| 5 | Rod Taylor | Exce. VP, Planning & Development | Hydro One | $799,991 |
| 6 | Malen Ng | Exce. VP, Wires Operations | Hydro One | $778,317 |
| 7 | J. Prior | Exce. VP, General Counsel & Sec. | Hydro One | $771,875 |
| 8 | David W. Drinkwater | EVP Corp Dev. & Legal Affairs | Ontario Power Generation | $732,662 |
| 9 | David Williams | President & CEO | Workplace Safety & Insurance Brd | $688,436 |
| 10 | Anthony Salerno | Vice-Chair & CEO, OFA | Ontario Financing Authority | $634,643 |
| 11 | Peter Chait | Radiologist | Hospital for Sick Children, The | $575,949 |
| 12 | David Brown | Chair | Ontario Securities Commission | $551,531 |
| 13 | Wayne M. Bingham | Chief Financial Officer | Ontario Power Generation | $548,411 |
| 14 | Thomas Closson | President & Chief Executive Officer | University Health Network | $541,733 |
| 15 | M. Bermon | Sr. VP & Chief Regulatory Officer | Hydro One | $527,823 |
| 16 | John C. Mather | Senior VP, Electricity Production | Ontario Power Generation | $527,571 |
| 17 | Richard Dicerni | Executive Vice President & Secretary | Ontario Power Generation | $513,621 |
| 18 | Tom Gunn | Senior Vice President, Investments | OMERS | $512,794 |
| 19 | William Robinson | Senior Vice President, Pickering A | Ontario Power Generation | $508,266 |
| 20 | David Goulding | President & CEO | Independent Electricity Market Op. | $507,917 |
| 21 | Ken Hartwick | Chief Financial Officer | Hydro One | $491,654 |
| 22 | Michael Strofolino | President & CEO | Hospital for Sick Children, The | $491,535 |
| 23 | Allan G. Holt | Director, Operations & Maintenance | Ontario Power Generation | $476,069 |
| 24 | David J. McCutcheon | President & C.E.O. | Sunnybrook & Women's College | $474,224 |
| 25 | James R. Burpee | Senior Vice President, Operations | Ontario Power Generation | $470,247 |
| Sector | Employees | Avg Salary | Top Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario Power Generation | 3,726 | $126,404 | $1,874,103 |
| Universities | 3,129 | $118,367 | $363,000 |
| Government of Ontario – Ministries | 2,095 | $137,085 | $269,145 |
| Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 1,239 | $154,476 | $575,949 |
| Crown Agencies | 1,013 | $152,434 | $688,436 |
| Municipalities & Services | 761 | $118,110 | $280,211 |
| Other Public Sector Employers | 523 | $119,782 | $269,660 |
| School Boards | 520 | $116,758 | $182,030 |
| Colleges | 138 | $123,043 | $374,412 |
The 15 employers with the most disclosed employees in 2001.
| Employer | Sector | Employees | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario Power Generation | Ontario Power Generation | 2,954 | $125,142 |
| Attorney General | Government of Ontario – Ministries | 1,343 | $143,654 |
| University Of Toronto | Universities | 1,093 | $123,238 |
| Hydro One | Ontario Power Generation | 772 | $131,233 |
| Cancer Care Ontario | Crown Agencies | 345 | $177,198 |
| York University | Universities | 271 | $117,948 |
| University Of Waterloo | Universities | 245 | $111,467 |
| McMaster University | Universities | 235 | $119,274 |
| University Of Western Ontario | Universities | 222 | $117,121 |
| University Of Ottawa | Universities | 207 | $116,699 |
| Queen's University | Universities | 203 | $119,740 |
| City Of Toronto | Municipalities & Services | 198 | $120,514 |
| University Health Network | Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 162 | $162,165 |
| Independent Electricity Market Op. | Crown Agencies | 152 | $131,064 |
| Hospital for Sick Children, The | Hospitals & Boards of Public Health | 140 | $168,551 |
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 13,144 in 2001 — roughly 3× 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.