Nova Scotia Sunshine List 2024 (FY 2023-24)

Nova Scotia’s 2024 compensation disclosure: every disclosed public-sector compensation for the year, with top earners, sectors, and employers.

11,164
employees disclosed
$125,862
average compensation
$116,951
median compensation
$934,734
highest compensation

In 2024, 11,164 employees at 57 Nova Scotia public-sector employers were disclosed on the province’s compensation disclosure (FY 2023-24, the fiscal year ending in 2024). The average disclosed compensation was $125,862 and the median was $116,951 — the disclosure covers only employees above the $100,000 threshold in force that year, not the entire public-sector workforce.

Compared with 2023, the list grew by 4,826 names (+76%, from 6,338 to 11,164), and the average disclosed compensation rose 0% from $125,861.

The highest-paid person on the 2024 list was Community Services at Easter Seals Nova Scotia, at $934,734. The full top 25 is below; for interactive filtering of all 11,164 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.

Highest-paid public-sector employees in Nova Scotia, 2024

Top 25 by compensation on the 2024 disclosure. Click a name for their full year-by-year profile.

#NameEmployerCompensation
1Community ServicesEaster Seals Nova Scotia$934,734
2Nicole BoutilierNova Scotia Health Authority$465,855
3David AndersonDalhousie University$456,050
4Frank HarveyDalhousie University$433,581
5Kathryn McFaddenIzaak Walton Killam Health Centre$416,258
6David DingwallCape Breton University$412,408
7Craig MidgenIzaak Walton Killam Health Centre$411,096
8Andrew HakinSt Francis Xavier University$393,785
9Kimberley BrooksDalhousie University$374,896
10Krista JangaardIzaak Walton Killam Health Centre$363,521
11Peter RickettsAcadia University$362,406
12Robert Summerby-MurraySaint Mary's University$362,163
13Christopher McMasterDalhousie University$356,016
14Gitta KulczyckiDalhousie University$341,256
15Todd HowlettNova Scotia Health Authority$329,814
16Chris BrownerNova Scotia Health Authority$323,882
17Alice AikenDalhousie University$315,071
18Donald BrienNova Scotia Health Authority$312,160
19Douglas SinclairIzaak Walton Killam Health Centre$311,301
20Cheryl PughNova Scotia Health Authority$306,493
21Aaron SmithNova Scotia Health Authority$306,493
22Administration Joël DickinsonMount Saint Vincent University$303,562
23Matt HebbDalhousie University$296,877
24Christy BusseyNova Scotia Health Authority$296,842
25Faculty Peter MombourquetteMount Saint Vincent University$293,434

2024 compensation by sector

SectorEmployeesAvg CompensationTop Compensation
Health6,384$119,941$465,855
Universities & Colleges3,044$143,835$456,050
Education1,420$111,715$183,621
Crown Corporations142$129,202$281,436
Government Agencies111$144,442$256,697
Community Services35$149,770$934,734
Housing23$117,438$156,772
Culture & Recreation5$126,215$153,580

Largest employers on the 2024 list

The 15 employers with the most disclosed employees in 2024.

EmployerSectorEmployeesAvg Compensation
Nova Scotia Health AuthorityHealth5,542$120,049
Dalhousie UniversityUniversities & Colleges1,422$154,849
Izaak Walton Killam Health CentreHealth745$119,275
Halifax Regional Centre for EducationEducation617$111,182
Nova Scotia Community CollegeUniversities & Colleges325$116,854
Saint Mary's UniversityUniversities & Colleges319$150,296
St Francis Xavier UniversityUniversities & Colleges260$137,169
Cape Breton UniversityUniversities & Colleges255$134,647
Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for EducationEducation233$109,311
Acadia UniversityUniversities & Colleges214$133,380
Chignecto Central Regional Centre for EducationEducation201$112,848
Mount Saint Vincent UniversityUniversities & Colleges130$134,435
Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for EducationEducation126$113,725
Nova Scotia Legal Aid CommissionGovernment Agencies93$143,151
South Shore Regional Centre for EducationEducation90$111,164

Other years

202520242023202220212020201920182017

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