City manager Wendy Stephanson and Const. Daniel Montsion were among the highest-paid city employees on the 2024 Sunshine List.
What do a hospital CEO, the manager of Ottawa’s transit system, and a police officer acquitted for manslaughter all have in common?
They’re all among the most highly paid public servants in Ottawa, according to Ontario’s 2024 Sunshine List, which discloses the pay of the province’s public sector workers who made more than $100,000.
Ottawa’s city manager, Wendy Stephanson, was the highest paid municipal public servant, making slightly more than $450,000 last year. That’s an 11 per cent increase from the year before, and an increase of more than 50 per cent from 2022, when she was the city’s chief financial officer and interim city manager.
The second highest-paid city employee was Const. Daniel Montsion, who made headlines for his involvement in the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi. He was charged with manslaughter after the Somali-Canadian man died following a violent arrest, but was found not guilty at trial.
He was paid just over $410,000 in 2024, a 60 per cent increase from what he took home the year before.
When reached for comment, Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa Police Association, said Montsion was assigned to Project Champion in 2024, and “most investigators involved in that complex investigation made more money than past years as it involved travel and overtime.”
Project Champion was an 18 month-long investigation in conjunction with the Ontario Provincial Police. The lengthy investigation resulted in 17 people arrested for more than 150 charges, police announced in November 2024.
Cory Hann, director of corporate communications for the Ottawa Police Service, said “we understand public concerns regarding the discrepancy between a Constable base pay and the number in the salary disclosure.”
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Dozens of OPS constables were also on the salary disclosure list, many making between $100,000 and $200,000 in 2024.
Hann said in Montsion’s case, “the high number of overtime hours resulted from a unique set of circumstances, including participation in investigative operations, court time, timely responses related to investigations and time bank cash-outs.
“We continue to review the matter, and we are working to put in place measures that ensure a more equitable distribution of tasks.”
Police Chief Eric Stubbs was also among the highest paid at city hall, along with transit manager Renee Amilcar. They brought home $371,323.25 and $355,629.37, respectively, in 2024. For Amilcar, that amounted to a 7.5 per cent pay increase.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe didn’t crack the top 10 list, and he isn’t even among the top 10 highest paid in city hall. His $213,000 salary puts him at the 22nd-highest paid at city hall. City council votes to set the wages of the mayor and councillors.
The Sunshine List includes the names, positions, salary and taxable benefits of people working for all entities that receive public funding from the province, including the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Police Service, local school boards, hospitals, nonprofits and more.
The list hasn’t been adjusted for inflation since its inception in 1996, and critics say if it was updated to account for nearly 30 years of inflation, it would only show people making more than approximately $180,000.
As it stands, the list includes people who bring home at least double the city’s median income. According to data most recently published by Statistics Canada in 2021, Ottawa’s median income for individuals was $50,000, while the median household income was slightly over $100,000.
When the list was released, a memo from Pamela LeMaistre, the city’s chief human resources officer, said provincial legislation requires information to be presented in a prescribed manner. In keeping with this legislation, the city can’t provide a specific breakdown showing how the salary was determined, disclose what specific benefits were provided to staff, or produce a report that differs from the approved format.
Stephane Giguere, CEO of the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, was among the top 10 highest paid in Ottawa last year, with a salary just over $375,000. The Sunshine List also included several property managers bringing in more than $100,000 per year.
In 2024, Cameron Love, the CEO of the Ottawa Hospital, topped the list of Ottawa’s earners. He brought home nearly $650,000 last year. Hundreds of other Ottawa Hospital employees also joined him on the list. While it was mostly executives, project managers and other management positions that made the list for the Ottawa Hospital, it also included the salaries of dozens of registered nurses, crisis counsellors, social workers and other frontline staff.
