Dalhousie, NSCC & Nova Scotia University Salaries (FY 2024-25)

Based on the FY 2024-25 Public Sector Compensation Disclosure · 3,580 people paid $100,000 or more across 12 universities and colleges

Nova Scotia has more universities per capita than any other province, and every one of them files under the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act. In FY 2024-25, 3,580 people at the province's universities and the community college were paid $100,000 or more, for a combined $504.4M. The average disclosed figure was $140,903 and the median $129,942.

Dalhousie University dominates the list with 1,476 people — 41% of the sector — at an average of $154,580, reflecting its size as the region's research university and its medical, dental and law faculties. Nova Scotia Community College is second by headcount with 724, at a markedly lower average of $113,480: college instructors cluster just above the threshold, while a university's list is weighted toward senior professors and administrators.

Among the universities themselves (at least 20 people disclosed), the highest average is at Dalhousie University ($154,580) and the lowest at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University ($130,177).

The highest disclosed figure in the sector belongs to David Dingwall at Cape Breton University, at $472,142. Nova Scotia publishes no job titles; at most universities the top of the list is the president, though at Dalhousie it is the Dean of Medicine, and deans and clinical faculty fill the places below. Because the figure is money paid in the year, a departing president's payout or a retroactive settlement can produce a one-year spike.

Top 25 Highest-Paid at Nova Scotia Universities & Colleges (FY 2024-25)

Every University & College in the Disclosure (FY 2024-25)

People Disclosed by Year

The number of university and college people on the disclosure each fiscal year. The $100,000 threshold has not changed since 2010, so a growing count mostly means ordinary salary progression carrying more faculty across a fixed line — not a surge in hiring. The 2019 figure includes the one-time payout of frozen public-sector service awards, which shows up almost entirely at NSCC; the universities were barely affected.

About the Disclosure

Nova Scotia's Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act (2010) requires each publicly funded body — including every university and the community college — to publish the name and total compensation of everyone paid $100,000 or more in the fiscal year ending March 31. The figure is money actually paid: salary plus overtime, stipends, retroactive pay, lump-sum and vacation payouts, and severance. It excludes the employer-paid share of pensions and benefits, and no job titles are published. Figures for FY 2024-25 cover April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.

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