Nova Scotia’s 2025 compensation disclosure: every disclosed public-sector compensation for the year, with top earners, sectors, and employers.
In 2025, 17,073 employees at 65 Nova Scotia public-sector employers were disclosed on the province’s compensation disclosure (FY 2024-25, the fiscal year ending in 2025). The average disclosed compensation was $122,222 and the median was $113,863 — the disclosure covers only employees above the $100,000 threshold in force that year, not the entire public-sector workforce.
Compared with 2024, the list grew by 5,909 names (+53%, from 11,164 to 17,073), and the average disclosed compensation fell 2.9% from $125,862.
The highest-paid person on the 2025 list was David Dingwall at Cape Breton University, at $472,142. The full top 25 is below; for interactive filtering of all 17,073 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 2025 disclosure. Click a name for their full year-by-year profile.
| Sector | Employees | Avg Compensation | Top Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 7,654 | $122,229 | $448,252 |
| Education | 5,426 | $108,992 | $308,055 |
| Universities & Colleges | 3,580 | $140,903 | $472,142 |
| Crown Corporations | 210 | $130,485 | $364,459 |
| Government Agencies | 126 | $145,890 | $272,867 |
| Community Services | 42 | $125,115 | $226,600 |
| Housing | 27 | $118,279 | $156,772 |
| Culture & Recreation | 8 | $138,420 | $185,082 |
The 15 employers with the most disclosed employees in 2025.
| Employer | Sector | Employees | Avg Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Health Authority | Health | 6,715 | $122,332 |
| Halifax Regional Centre for Education | Education | 2,185 | $108,976 |
| Dalhousie University | Universities & Colleges | 1,476 | $154,580 |
| Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education | Education | 884 | $108,060 |
| Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre | Health | 809 | $121,175 |
| Nova Scotia Community College | Universities & Colleges | 724 | $113,480 |
| Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for Education | Education | 646 | $110,316 |
| Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education | Education | 501 | $108,465 |
| Strait Regional Centre for Education | Education | 340 | $108,804 |
| South Shore Regional Centre for Education | Education | 316 | $108,679 |
| Saint Mary's University | Universities & Colleges | 304 | $153,053 |
| Cape Breton University | Universities & Colleges | 286 | $135,584 |
| Tri-County Regional Centre for Education | Education | 282 | $108,921 |
| Conseil scolaire acadien provincial | Education | 268 | $110,371 |
| St Francis Xavier University | Universities & Colleges | 267 | $136,534 |