Ontario's 'sunshine list' grows by 10%

Approximately 7,500 Ontario civil servants joined the province's $100,000 club last year, the provincial government says.

The government's so-called "sunshine list," released Friday, shows nearly 79,000 workers made six-figure salaries in 2011, an increase of 10 per cent from the previous year.

Some of the top earnersare energy-sector CEOs, includingOntario Power Generation's Tom Mitchell, whopulled in $1.8 million,and Hydro One's Laura Formusa, whoearned $962,000.

Although more than 100 people from Ornge air ambulance made the list, noticeably absent is deposed CEO Chris Mazza. That's because Mazza was paid through for-profit companies set up by Ornge. It's also one of the reasons whyhe was dismissed.

About 135 other Ornge workers, including paramedics and low-level managers, were included on the list of Ontario's top paid public sector workers in 2011.

Auditor general Jim McCartercriticized the high salariesof Ornge's former executives and directors in a scathing report released earlier this week.

Ornge's spinoff companies, which shielded it from public disclosure laws, are being wound down. But all employees at Ornge will be subject to those laws from now on, said aspokeswoman for Health Minister Deb Matthews.

Other interesting notes from the sunshine list:

• David Johnston received $610,000from the University of Waterloo last year even though he was sworn in as Canada's Governor General in 2010.

• Toronto Police Services Chief Bill Blair earned almost $330,000

• TVO's Steve Paikin, host ofThe Agenda, made $295,000 in 2011.

The annualrelease of the sunshine list is an Ontario tradition dating back to the mid-1990s when Mike Harris's Conservativegovernment wanted to expose top-earning civil servants.

The threshold of $100,000 hasn't changed since. If the salary criteria had grown with inflation, the government says, three quarters of the names wouldn't be on it.

Search the list online

CBC.ca is publishing the entire sunshine list in an online format you can filter and search yourself.Click on the categories at the bottom of this page to search the lists.

Follow these three steps below to filter and isolate the information you're looking for.

Some search tips

• You must click the "clear filter" button between searches.
• If you don't see the salary information after conducting a search, click on the small triangle on the right side of the page. Thiswill makevisible the columns you can't see.

Here's the complete sunshine list, broken down into categories:

• Ministries
• Legislative assembly and offices.
• Judiciary.
• Crown agencies.
• Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation.
• Municipalities and services.
• School boards.
• Universities.
• Colleges.
• Hospitals and boards of public health.
• Other public sector employers.