Nova Scotia’s 2020 compensation disclosure: every disclosed public-sector compensation for the year, with top earners, sectors, and employers.
In 2020, 4,349 employees at 69 Nova Scotia public-sector employers were disclosed on the province’s compensation disclosure (FY 2019-20, the fiscal year ending in 2020). The average disclosed compensation was $127,465 and the median was $116,421 — the disclosure covers only employees above the $100,000 threshold in force that year, not the entire public-sector workforce.
Compared with 2019, the list shrank by 3,295 names (-43%, from 7,644 to 4,349), and the average disclosed compensation rose 2.1% from $124,822.
The highest-paid person on the 2020 list was Kent MacDonald at St Francis Xavier University, at $585,077. The full top 25 is below; for interactive filtering of all 4,349 records, use the data explorer or see the Nova Scotia dashboard for the latest year.
Nova Scotia's $100,000 disclosure threshold has been unchanged since the Act passed in 2010 and is not indexed to inflation, so the number of people disclosed grows as wages rise past a fixed line — year-over-year growth is not by itself evidence of rising pay or headcount. Two further caveats: the province paid out frozen public-sector service awards as lump sums in 2018 and 2019, which pushed a one-time cohort over the threshold in those years; and until 2019 school boards reported under the Education Act rather than this Act, so their earlier figures come from a differently-titled (but equivalent) remuneration schedule.
Top 25 by compensation on the 2020 disclosure. Click a name for their full year-by-year profile.
| Sector | Employees | Avg Compensation | Top Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universities & Colleges | 2,226 | $138,372 | $585,077 |
| Health | 1,176 | $117,198 | $378,567 |
| Education | 696 | $110,168 | $187,487 |
| Crown Corporations | 133 | $124,056 | $222,000 |
| Government Agencies | 89 | $133,220 | $206,634 |
| Community Services | 17 | $120,664 | $160,472 |
| Housing | 9 | $113,355 | $122,942 |
| Culture & Recreation | 3 | $132,764 | $158,618 |
The 15 employers with the most disclosed employees in 2020.
| Employer | Sector | Employees | Avg Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie University | Universities & Colleges | 1,066 | $147,342 |
| Nova Scotia Health Authority | Health | 1,005 | $116,254 |
| Halifax Regional Centre for Education | Education | 270 | $110,471 |
| Saint Mary's University | Universities & Colleges | 244 | $140,596 |
| St Francis Xavier University | Universities & Colleges | 202 | $132,573 |
| Nova Scotia Community College | Universities & Colleges | 171 | $117,442 |
| Acadia University | Universities & Colleges | 167 | $130,043 |
| Cape Breton University | Universities & Colleges | 153 | $126,649 |
| Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre | Health | 147 | $123,736 |
| Mount Saint Vincent University | Universities & Colleges | 118 | $131,639 |
| Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for Education | Education | 101 | $109,614 |
| Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education | Education | 100 | $109,078 |
| Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission | Government Agencies | 74 | $130,362 |
| Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education | Education | 63 | $109,158 |
| Strait Regional Centre for Education | Education | 46 | $111,800 |
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