Sunshine list: What does Hamilton's highest-paid teacher make?

Hamilton Spectator

07-05-2025

Hamilton's highest-paid teacher made $190,843.50 in 2024.
Seventeen more made upward of $150,000, according to the
provincial list
of public-sector employees paid $100,000 or more.
An additional 1,246 public and Catholic staff, largely teachers, were added to Ontario's sunshine list, which grew by about 25 per cent to a record 377,666 public servants.
Teachers made up the majority of that growth.
The number of Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board staff on the list increased dramatically to 2,738, compared to 1,879 the previous year.
The number of Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board employees on the list also grew to 1,673 from 1,286 in 2023.
This year's compensation gains followed an arbitrator decision that Bill 124, legislation capping public-sector wages at a maximum annual increase of one per cent, was unconstitutional. The 2019 legislation was repealed, and the province had to pay public-sector workers, including teachers, billions of dollars in retroactive payments.
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These 'lump sum' payments pushed more teachers over the threshold, public board spokesperson Renata Kuzma said in an email.
This means some teachers, who at Catholic high schools make between about $58,000 and $117,000 (though it can differ depending on level of education), will drop below the $100,000-threshold again next year, said Sergio Cacoilo, the president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association for Hamilton secondary schools.
Still, more teachers have permanently joined the sunshine list as wage grids increase.
'Going forward, we expect to have a higher number of teachers on this list relative to 2023 levels,' Kuzma said in an email.
Teachers, Cacoilo said, work well beyond the afternoon bell — coaching, leading extracurricular activities, fundraising and lesson planning. Sometimes, they act as a second parent, and often face aggression and violence in the classroom.
The job has changed 'drastically' in recent years, he said.
'Are teachers deserving of the $100,000? Maybe I am biased, but absolutely,' Cacoilo said. 'Teaching is not those six hours.'
Education, said Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers' Local president Cindy Gangaram, is the 'greatest investment into the future of this province,' and paying fairly in 'difficult times' helps retain teachers.
'It's not enough, but it is a move in the right direction,' she said.
In 2022-23, Ontario teachers made, on average, between $56,340 and $103,982, depending on level of experience and years taught,
according to Statistics Canada
.
Teachers are well paid, said David Johnson, a Wilfrid Laurier economics professor who has studied
compensation
among Canadian educators.
His own research from 2014 found that Canadian teachers were paid well compared to other professions, in part because most 'belong to unions with a considerable amount of bargaining power,' he said.
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The study, which also compared teacher salaries by province, also found that higher wages didn't equate to better student performance.
At the top of the list of local school board staff are education directors, associate directors, superintendents and managers, as well as a handful of principals and teachers.
No educational assistants or custodians made the list.
Several top-paid teachers, including the top earner at the Catholic board, are listed as being seconded to unions. Others, however, are unexplained.
Unions say some teachers work summer and night school for additional pay. Hamilton Catholic secondary teachers, for example, make approximately $4,000 for one month of summer school, Cacoilo said.
Teachers can also be seconded to the Ministry of Education, a university or other organization, Gangaram said.
'They would then … fall under that compensation package,' she said.
Catholic education director David Hansen made $255,559.77 in 2024, up significantly from $219,205.63 in 2022.
The change, Daly said, was related to the elimination of a superintendent position and a 'realignment of additional responsibilities' among senior administration. He also noted the director and other members of senior administration are within the established compensation framework.
Public board education director Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini made more in 2024 at $265,980.72.
Some experts say the list of high-end salaries is becoming irrelevant, the Star
reported
.