After holding steady in 2010, the number of employees at Ontario’s financial regulators earning more than $100,000 is back on the upswing, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Finance.
According to the latest so-called “sunshine list” disclosure, which reports the compensation of all public sector employees earning more than $100,000, there were a total 258 Ontario Securities Commission employees on the list in 2011, up from 230 employees in 2010.
In aggregate, they collected $43.4 million in salary, up from $38.2 million in 2010. The average salary on the list is now $168,267.
The highest-paid employees at the commission are its chair and two of its vice chairs. The current chair, Howard Wetston, took home $$627,495 in 2011, up slightly from his predecessor, David Wilson’s 2010 salary of $626,121.
Two of the vice chairs were the next best paid, with Larry Ritchie earning $519,936, and Jim Turner collecting, $479,874. Ritchie spent the year seconded to the Canadian Securities Transition Office that was working on the plan for a national securities regulator, which was thwarted by the Supreme Court of Canada decision in late 2011 ruling its proposed legislation unconstitutional. In February, he was reappointed to a term that expires in February 2014, and at the same time, Turner was also reappointed, his term now expires in February 2015.
It’s a notable drop from the two vice chair salaries to the next highest-paid employee, director of enforcement, Tom Atkinson, at just over $300,000. The other vice chair, Mary Condon, sits ninth on the list, although she was only appointed to the commission in June 2011.
Over at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, there were 67 employees on the 2011 sunshine list, who were paid a total of $8.6 million. This is up from the 59 employees who made the list the previous year, earning a total $7.5 million. The average salary for those on FSCO’s list is now $128,865.
According to the government, the average employee covered by the disclosure saw their salary slide for the third consecutive year. For 2011, the average salary over $100,000 across the public sector decreased by $1,211 (1%) from $128,850 to $127,639.
The $100,000 threshold for public sector disclosure has not changed since legislation requiring disclosure was introduced in 1996. If the threshold had kept up with inflation, it would now be about $139,000, and the current disclosure list would be approximately 78% shorter, the government notes.