• A total of 131 Stouffville employees earned more than $100,000 in 2025, marking a nearly 12 percent increase year-over-year.
  • The Sunshine List threshold has remained unchanged since 1996, significantly reducing its real value.
  • Adjusted for inflation, the $100,000 threshold would rise to $188,000 today.
  • Only 12 Town employees would be included on an inflation-adjusted Sunshine List.
  • Chief Administrative Officer Sunny Bains was the Town’s top earner at just over $295,000 in 2025.
  • Mayor Iain Lovatt’s combined salary of $179,217.36 places him sixth among York Region mayors.

 

Public sector salary disclosures for 2025 were released by the Province last week, identifying 131 Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville employees earning more than $100,000. Ontario’s salary disclosure program, introduced in 1996, has never adjusted its inclusion threshold despite decades of inflation.

The static benchmark continues to shape how the so-called Sunshine List is interpreted, and compared to 2024, the number of Town employees exceeding it rose by nearly 12 percent. Treasurer Nicholas Kristoffy was the first Town employee to appear on the list in 2001, and the purchasing power represented by the threshold has greatly diminished.

According to a Bank of Canada inflation calculator, $100,000 in 2026 would be just over $53,000 in 1996 dollars. That equates to a 30-year increase since 1996 totalling 88 percent, raising the benchmark to approximately $188,000 today.

Under that inflation-adjusted lens, only 12 Town salaries would qualify. Chief Administrative Officer Sunny Bains tops the list at just over $295,000, following a 9.4 percent increase from the previous year. However, his compensation remains the lowest among CAOs across York Region’s nine municipalities.

Former Town Counsel Joshua Silver, whose departure preceded the Town’s transition to third-party legal services early last year, received nearly $260,000. According to the Town, Silver’s 2025 pay included salary continuance and vacation payout.

Most members of Stouffville’s senior leadership team follow. Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works Jack Graziosi, Commissioner of Finance Jeremy Harness, Commissioner of Development Services Dwayne Tapp, and Commissioner of Community Services Rob Braid each earned just over $230,000.

Salaries among this group were more uniform than in 2024. Graziosi and Harness, who led last year, received 5.16 percent increases, while Tapp and Braid saw larger raises of 7.94 percent and 9.38 percent, respectively.

Human Resources Director Claudette Banks, Library CEO Margaret Wallace, and Fire Chief William Snowball each earned just under $217,000. Former Commissioner of Corporate Services and Town Clerk Becky Jamieson received $213,300, while Deputy Fire Chief Trevor Wawryk and Chief Building Official George Zacharakis reported earnings near $190,000.

Mayor Iain Lovatt would fall below an inflation-adjusted Sunshine List threshold, with a combined Town and York Region salary of $179,217.36. Among York Region’s nine mayors, Lovatt ranks sixth in base pay, well below Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, who leads the group at $308,179.23.

Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca ranks second at $218,544.94, followed by Richmond Hill Mayor David West at $210,265.23. Newmarket Mayor John Taylor earned $196,159.20, while Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas reported $180,865.38.

King Mayor Steve Pellegrini received $173,307.37, Georgina Mayor Margaret Quirk earned $150,352.72, and East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson reported $143,338.46.

When taxable benefits are included, the overall ranking shifts slightly. Scarpitti, Del Duca, West, and Taylor retain their positions; Pellegrini, followed by Lovatt, narrowly move ahead of Mrakas; and Hackson and Quirk switch places.