Ontario Teacher Salaries 2025: Sunshine List by School Board
The Big Picture
Ontario's 80 school boards collectively disclosed $13.73 billion in salaries for 2025 — by far the largest sector on the entire Sunshine List, ahead of police, hospitals, and municipal government combined. That figure covers 111,652 teachers, principals, superintendents, and administrative staff earning above the $100,000 disclosure threshold, at an average salary of $122,956.
The Toronto District School Board is the single largest employer in the dataset — not just among school boards, but across every organization in Ontario's public sector. TDSB disclosed 14,085 salaries in 2025 totalling $1.78 billion, ahead of the City of Toronto, Ontario Power Generation, and every hospital network in the province.
"The Toronto District School Board alone accounts for $1.78 billion in disclosed payroll — more than any other single employer in Ontario's public sector."
The Rankings
The 15 largest school boards on the 2025 Sunshine List, ranked by total payroll:
| # | School Board | Staff Listed | Total Payroll | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto District School Board | 14,085 | $1,783,916,032 | $126,654 |
| 2 | Peel District School Board | 8,460 | $1,019,087,313 | $120,459 |
| 3 | York Region District School Board | 6,570 | $787,789,554 | $119,907 |
| 4 | Toronto Catholic District School Board | 5,592 | $731,570,724 | $130,825 |
| 5 | Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board | 4,239 | $528,294,574 | $124,627 |
| 6 | Thames Valley District School Board | 4,185 | $498,484,054 | $119,112 |
| 7 | Durham District School Board | 3,944 | $469,583,810 | $119,063 |
| 8 | Ottawa-Carleton District School Board | 3,847 | $463,513,346 | $120,487 |
| 9 | Halton District School Board | 3,337 | $399,577,258 | $119,741 |
| 10 | Waterloo Region District School Board | 3,302 | $391,342,819 | $118,517 |
| 11 | Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board | 3,045 | $396,276,598 | $130,140 |
| 12 | York Catholic District School Board | 2,870 | $350,189,916 | $122,017 |
| 13 | Simcoe County District School Board | 2,733 | $328,458,616 | $120,182 |
| 14 | Ottawa Catholic School Board | 2,495 | $309,524,894 | $124,058 |
| 15 | District School Board of Niagara | 2,082 | $250,347,595 | $120,244 |
Spotlight: Toronto District School Board
TDSB's headcount on the Sunshine List has grown dramatically over the past two decades — from just 586 staff disclosed in 2006 to 14,085 in 2025, a 24-fold increase driven by enrollment growth, salary inflation pushing more staff above the $100,000 threshold, and periodic adjustments to that threshold itself.
The most striking jump came between 2023 and 2024, when TDSB's disclosed headcount surged from 8,826 to 14,046 — a 59% increase in a single year — while the average salary jumped from $105,950 to $124,112. This reflects new collective agreement settlements that pushed a large cohort of teachers and support staff over the disclosure threshold simultaneously, rather than a one-year hiring spree.
"TDSB's Sunshine List headcount jumped 59% in a single year — from 8,826 in 2023 to 14,046 in 2024 — as new contract settlements pushed thousands of staff over the $100,000 threshold at once."
TDSB's Top 10 Earners (2025)
Among TDSB's 14,085 disclosed staff, the highest earners are concentrated in senior administration and specialized leadership roles rather than classroom teaching positions. The top-paid employee in 2025 earned $304,894 — roughly 2.4 times the board's average salary. Job titles are not included in the Sunshine List's machine-readable disclosure data, only names, employers, and salaries.
| # | Name | School Board | 2025 Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clayton La Touche | Toronto District School Board | $304,894 |
| 2 | Stacey Zucker | Toronto District School Board | $291,041 |
| 3 | Leola Pon | Toronto District School Board | $282,682 |
| 4 | Mary Louise Sirisko | Toronto District School Board | $282,682 |
| 5 | Audley Salmon | Toronto District School Board | $282,159 |
| 6 | Gorian Surlan | Toronto District School Board | $256,899 |
| 7 | Michelle Lawrence | Toronto District School Board | $242,573 |
| 8 | Jennifer Saville | Toronto District School Board | $241,370 |
| 9 | Kamla Nandit Palmer | Toronto District School Board | $241,370 |
| 10 | Ryan Bird | Toronto District School Board | $236,123 |
All ten are TDSB employees, since this ranking is filtered to a single board. TDSB does not break down disclosure by individual school.
Catholic vs. Public Boards
Catholic district school boards tend to post slightly higher average salaries than their public counterparts in the same region. Toronto Catholic averages $130,825 versus the Toronto District School Board's $126,654; Dufferin-Peel Catholic averages $124,627 versus Peel's $120,459. The pattern holds across most paired public/Catholic boards, likely reflecting differences in staff seniority mix and administrative structure rather than a uniform pay premium.
Outside the GTA, average salaries compress toward the $119,000–$121,000 range across boards like Thames Valley, Durham, Halton, and Waterloo Region — suggesting a fairly consistent provincial pay scale for teachers once regional cost-of-living allowances are set aside.
Data sourced from the Ontario Public Sector Salary Disclosure (Sunshine List), published annually by the Government of Ontario. Figures reflect employees earning $100,000 or more in calendar year 2025.