Based on the FY 2025-26 Public Sector Compensation Disclosure · 8,803 people paid $100,000 or more across 10 health bodies
In FY 2025-26, 8,803 people in Nova Scotia's health sector were paid $100,000 or more, for a combined $1.06B in total compensation. The average disclosed figure was $120,478 and the median $113,989. “Health” here means the bodies this site groups under that heading: the provincial health authority, the IWK, and a handful of nursing homes and community health bodies that file their own statements. Provincial Department of Health staff do not file under the Act.
Nova Scotia Health Authority alone accounts for 7,830 of those people — 89% of the sector — at an average of $120,500. The Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre adds another 920 at an average of $119,531.
The highest disclosed figure in the sector belongs to Donald Robichaud at Nova Scotia Health Authority, at $551,485. Nova Scotia publishes no job titles, so the disclosure does not say what role a figure attaches to; the largest amounts are typically senior executives and physicians paid on salary rather than fee-for-service.
Ranked by total compensation paid during the fiscal year. Click a name for that person's disclosure history.
Nova Scotia Health (formerly the Nova Scotia Health Authority) runs every hospital and most community health services outside the IWK, and is the province's largest employer. Its statement is by far the biggest single filing under the Act.
| # | Name | Total compensation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donald Robichaud | $551,485 |
| 2 | Nicole Boutilier | $508,268 |
| 3 | Ross Maclelland | $492,370 |
| 4 | Chris Browner | $386,772 |
| 5 | Todd Howlett | $368,407 |
| 6 | Aaron Smith | $361,311 |
| 7 | Cheryl Pugh | $358,661 |
| 8 | Gbenga Oladapo | $325,063 |
| 9 | Karen Oldfield | $318,720 |
| 10 | Tanya Nixon | $317,879 |
The IWK Health Centre in Halifax is the Maritimes' tertiary women's and children's hospital and files its own statement, separate from Nova Scotia Health.
| # | Name | Total compensation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Midgen | $450,156 |
| 2 | Krista Jangaard | $399,037 |
| 3 | Kathryn McFadden | $374,460 |
| 4 | Steven Ashton | $267,260 |
| 5 | Francis MacMaster | $262,905 |
| 6 | Jean Du Plessis | $243,693 |
| 7 | Leeann Larocque | $237,504 |
| 8 | Helena Arts | $236,982 |
| 9 | Lori Beach | $234,707 |
| 10 | Karen Bedard | $232,101 |
Beyond the two big institutions, the health sector in this disclosure is made up of 8 smaller bodies — long-term care homes and community health organisations that receive public funding and therefore file under the Act.
| Employer | Employees | Average | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Health Authority | 7,830 | $120,500 | $551,485 |
| Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre | 920 | $119,531 | $450,156 |
| Saint Vincent's Nursing Home | 17 | $119,595 | $228,451 |
| North End Community Health Centre | 11 | $145,185 | $221,650 |
| Mountain Lea Lodge | 9 | $171,678 | $238,206 |
| Hillside Pines Home for Special Care Society | 6 | $114,959 | $123,320 |
| Cumberland Senior Care Corporation | 3 | $139,029 | $157,559 |
| North Queens Nursing Home Inc | 3 | $105,871 | $109,005 |
| Sunset Community Incorporated | 3 | $123,053 | $153,030 |
| Meadows Community | 1 | $114,626 | $114,626 |
How many health-sector people appeared on the disclosure each fiscal year. Read this as a count of disclosed people, not a headcount: the $100,000 threshold has not moved since 2010, so ordinary wage growth pulls more people over it every year; the 2019 spike is the one-time payout of frozen service awards; and the jump between 2023 and 2024 at Nova Scotia Health and the IWK is far larger than any plausible hiring, so treat the earlier years as not comparable with the later ones.
| Year | People disclosed |
|---|---|
| FY 2016-17 | 738 |
| FY 2017-18 | 1,031 |
| FY 2018-19 | 2,936 |
| FY 2019-20 | 1,176 |
| FY 2020-21 | 1,889 |
| FY 2021-22 | 2,135 |
| FY 2022-23 | 2,416 |
| FY 2023-24 | 6,384 |
| FY 2024-25 | 7,653 |
| FY 2025-26 | 8,803 |
Nova Scotia's Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act (2010) requires each public-sector body to publish the name and total compensation of every person paid $100,000 or more in the fiscal year ending March 31. The figure is money actually paid — salary plus overtime, retroactive pay, lump-sum and vacation payouts, and severance — not an annual salary, so a one-time payment can lift someone onto the list for a single year. It excludes the employer-paid share of pensions and benefits. No job titles are published, and the core civil service does not file at all. Figures for FY 2025-26 cover April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
Data source: Nova Scotia Public Sector Compensation Disclosure (FY 2025-26), published under the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act. This site is independent and is not affiliated with the Government of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Health, or the IWK.