Here's how much money Doug Ford and his Ontario cabinet ministers make
55% of you didn't vote — hope you're cool with paying these salaries.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
After Thursday's snap election that saw Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives win a third straight majority — the first time that's happened in more than 50 years — Ontarians might be wondering just how much their elected officials are earning.
Thanks to Ontario's public sector salary disclosure portal, better known as the sunshine list, we've got the latest salary data on what Ford and his cabinet ministers earn — and the 55% of you who didn't vote in Thursday's election had better hope you're okay with paying these.
The Ontario sunshine list includes salaries for public sector employees who made $100,000 or more in a given year, but there's a catch: employers only report the amount they personally paid out. That means if a minister got extra income from any other roles or responsibilities from another organization — even another branch of the government — it won't be included in these figures.
For our purposes, we're only looking at salaries reported by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario — so if any of these ministers had other jobs outside of their legislative roles, those earnings aren't counted here.
We're also using data from the 2023 calendar year, since that's the most recently available. However, it's important to note that some ministers had different roles or titles in 2023, which means their salaries that year may not reflect what they're earning now.
Currently (and in 2023), the base salary for Ontario MPPs is set at $116,550 — a figure that hasn't changed in almost 17 years. After the latest increase back in April 2008, MPPs voted to freeze their salaries, and that freeze has been repeatedly extended ever since.
Ministers and other officials earn additional pay based on their roles, but if someone holds multiple positions that come with salary bumps, they only receive the increase from the highest-paying one. Here are the main cabinet roles and their corresponding salaries, according to the Ontario sunshine list:
Premier of Ontario
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who just secured his third term at the helm of the provincial government, was paid $209,264.76 in 2023 — including his base salary of $208,974 plus taxable benefits. Given the salary freeze, we can expect him to have earned roughly the same amount in 2024 and this year.
Cabinet minister
Most cabinet ministers took home $166,084.68 ($165,851.04 base plus taxable benefits), although a few earned more in 2023.
Three ministers — Raymond Cho (seniors and accessibility), Neil Lumsden (sport) and George Pirie (mines) — were each paid $182,669.76, a 10% boost above the standard cabinet minister salary.
Here are the other ministers who made the standard $166K in 2023:
- Peter Bethlenfalvy (finance)
- Paul Calandra (municipal affairs and housing)
- Doug Downey (attorney general)
- Jill Dunlop (education)
- Victor Fedeli (chair of cabinet & economic development, job creation and trade)
- Michael Ford (citizenship and multiculturalism)
- Sylvia Jones (deputy premier & health)
- Michael Kerzner (solicitor general)
- Stephen Lecce (energy and electrification)
- Greg Rickford (Indigenous affairs and First Nations economic reconciliation & northern development)
- Graydon Smith (natural resources)
- Kinga Surma (infrastructure)
- Lisa Thompson (rural affairs)
- Caroline Mulroney (president of the treasury board & francophone affairs)
- David Piccini (labour, immigration, training and skills development)
- Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria (transportation)
Cabinet minister (prorated)
Some ministers changed roles or took on new responsibilities partway through 2023, which means their salaries were prorated and thus don't align perfectly with the standard cabinet minister pay.
While they're likely earning the standard $166K this year, here's each of their total compensation (salary plus benefits) in 2023, according to the Ontario sunshine list:
- Michael Parsa (children, community and social services) — $159,924.74
- Stan Cho (tourism, culture and gaming) — $147,887.45
- Todd J. McCarthy (public and business service delivery and procurement) — $142,679.53
- Andrea Khanjin (environment, conservation and parks) — $142,393.61
Associate ministers
Associate ministers, who hold junior cabinet roles, earned $139,125.84 total ($138,927.96 + $197.88 benefits) in 2023. This includes:
- Michael Tibollo (mental health and addictions)
- Charmaine Williams (women's social and economic opportunity)
- Vijay Thanigasalam (housing)
- Nina Tangri (small business)
Rob Flack, the current minister of agriculture, food and agribusiness, also earned around the same — $135,265.87 total — having held roles as a parliamentary assistant, standing committee member and associate minister at different points in 2023.
Parliamentary assistants
Some of Ontario's current cabinet ministers held parliamentary assistant roles in 2023, which came with a $133,407.36 in total pay ($133,217.04 + $190.32 benefits).
While this role isn't part of cabinet, the following sitting ministers and associate ministers who are now in cabinet earned just over $133K back in 2023:
- Mike Harris (minister of red tape reduction)
- Natalia Kusendova-Bashta (minister of long-term care)
- Nolan Quinn (minister of colleges and universities)
- Stephen Crawford (associate minister of mines)
- Kevin Holland (associate minister of forestry and forest products)
- Trevor Jones (associate minister of emergency preparedness and response)
- Graham McGregor (associate minister of auto theft and bail reform)
- Sam Oosterhoff (associate minister of energy-intensive industries)
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