McMaster University

Also filed as Mcmaster (1997).

Ontario Sunshine List 2025 · 1,966 employees earning $100K+

Universities

At a Glance
2025

Employee Count

1,966

2025 Sunshine List

Total Compensation

$330.4M

Salaries + taxable benefits

Average Salary

$165,955

2025 Sunshine List

Median Salary

$150,713

Half earn more, half less

Who makes the most at McMaster University in 2025?

Claudia Emerson, Professor, was paid $498,592 in 2025 — the highest total compensation among 1,966 McMaster University employees on the Sunshine List; the median salary there was $150,713.

How has McMaster University's Sunshine List changed?

McMaster University listed 72 people in 1996 and 1,966 in 2025 — 27× as many; payroll on the list went from $8.6M to $330.4M, and the median salary moved from $110,159 to $150,713.

How many McMaster University employees earn over $150,000? →

Salary Trend

Median salary by yearLine chart of 30 yearly values of median salary, from $110,159 in 1996 to $150,713 in 2025.$100K$120K$140K$160K199620022008201320192025
Median salary, 1996–2025. Axis starts at $100,000, the Sunshine List disclosure threshold. That threshold has never been indexed to inflation, so this line can fall over time simply because more people newly cross it — not necessarily because pay fell.

Top Employees
2025

#1Claudia Emerson
$498,592
Professor
#2David Farrar
$488,506
Professor
#3Susan Tighe
$476,373
President and Vice-Chancellor
#4Paul O'Byrne
$472,802
Dean and Vice-President (Health Sciences) / Professor
#5Salim Yusuf
$452,745
Professor
#6Mohit Bhandari
$448,979
Professor
#7Deborah Martin
$443,321
Associate Vice-President, Real Estate, Partnerships and Ancillary Operations
#8Gregory Steinberg
$433,555
Professor
#9Mick Bhatia
$432,223
Professor
#10Khaled S Hassanein
$423,949
Dean / Professor
#11Parminder Raina
$420,570
Director / Professor
#12Gerard Wright
$413,198
Professor
#13Saher Fazilat
$411,698
Vice-President, Operations and Finance
#14James Mackillop
$409,359
Professor
#15John Kelton
$408,284
Professor
#16Karen Mossman
$403,769
Professor
#17Angelo Mikrogianakis
$386,040
Professor
#18Dina Brooks
$383,701
Professor
#19Jeremiah Edward Hurley
$378,846
Dean / Professor
#20Charu Kaushic
$376,657
Professor
#21Henry Armand Giroux
$375,167
Professor
#22Sheila Singh
$372,522
Professor
#23Lili Litwin
$371,262
Vice-President University Advancement
#24Margaret Andrea Baumann
$367,859
Professor
#25Maureen J Macdonald
$358,730
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

See all 1,966 employees in 2025 →

Download CSV (2025) →Released by the Government of Ontario under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996. Compiled by SunshineList.

Biggest Year-over-Year Increases
2024 → 2025

Deborah Martin at McMaster University had the largest increase in disclosed pay on the 2025 Sunshine List: $304,927 to $433,067, up 42.0%.

Deborah Martin+42.0%
Associate Vice-President, Real Estate, Partnerships and Ancillary Operations
$304,927 → $433,067
Chelsea Gabel+52.3%
Professor
$222,503 → $338,881
Dina Brooks+37.1%
Professor
$279,477 → $383,184
Megumi Harada+86.8%
Professor
$118,462 → $221,241
Sheila Singh+33.0%
Professor
$279,621 → $372,005

A year-over-year increase or decrease in disclosed pay can include overtime, a retroactive payment, a vacation payout or severance, not only a change in base pay, rate, or role — the Sunshine List discloses total salary paid that year, not a pay rate. This list is ranked by the dollar increase, not by the percentage shown.

293 people were new to McMaster University's list in 2025; 182 who were on it in 2024 were not. See the full 2025 roster →

See all pay increases at McMaster University →

By Year
full lists

Top Positions
2025 · 5 or more people