Clinical Nurse Specialist Salary in Ontario (2025)
1,612 disclosed records, 2003–2025 · mostly Hospitals & Boards of Public Health (97%)
At a Glance
2025
Disclosed
242
2025 Sunshine List
Median Salary
$125,412
+2.6% vs provincial median
Typical Range
$118,667–$132,321
25th–75th percentile
Top Salary
$156,981
Who is the highest-paid Clinical Nurse Specialist in Ontario?
The highest-paid Clinical Nurse Specialist on the 2025 Sunshine List was James Smith at University Health Network, with a salary of $156,981; the median among the 242 listed under this title was $125,412.
Take-Home Pay
(After Tax) · 2025 estimate
At the 2025 median salary of $125,412, a Clinical Nurse Specialist keeps roughly $89,955 after income tax, CPP and EI (about 23.9% effective), or about $7,496 a month. Across every sector the 2025 median was $122,262, so this position sits about 3% above it. The middle half of Clinical Nurse Specialist salaries ran from $118,667 to $132,321. After pension contributions (probably HOOPP in this sector), take-home is usually a further 7–10% lower.
- Estimated net pay
- ~$89,955
- Effective income-tax rate (excl. CPP/EI)
- ~23.9%
- CPP + EI contributions
- ~$5,507
- Per month, after tax
- ~$7,496
Where does $125,412 rank on the Sunshine List? →
Estimate only: 2025 federal and Ontario rates, basic personal amounts, Canada employment amount and CPP/EI credits; single, employment income only, salary treated as full-year income. Ignores pension contributions (OMERS, HOOPP, OTPP, OPTrust and similar plans lower actual take-home), union dues, RRSPs and benefits.
Median by Year
2005–2025
Median salary paid among disclosed records. 2023 is absent: job titles were not disclosed that year. Years with fewer than five people are omitted.
Where They Work
2025 · employers with 5+
| Employer | People | Median | Top | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Health Network | 44 | $124,495 | $156,981 | Pay here → |
| Sinai Health System | 37 | $128,384 | $142,095 | Pay here → |
| Hospital for Sick Children | 24 | $125,089 | $139,559 | Pay here → |
| Hamilton Health Sciences | 23 | $127,487 | $131,046 | Pay here → |
| Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre | 15 | $123,024 | $147,013 | Pay here → |
| North York General Hospital | 9 | $121,375 | $130,869 | Pay here → |
| St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton | 8 | $132,156 | $140,971 | Pay here → |
| London Health Sciences Centre | 7 | $133,516 | $136,222 | Pay here → |
| St. Joseph's Health Care London | 6 | $134,827 | $134,860 | Pay here → |
| Waterloo Regional Health Network | 6 | $123,058 | $128,245 | Pay here → |
| Queensway Carleton Hospital | 5 | $123,941 | $124,581 | Pay here → |
| Trillium Health Partners | 5 | $122,857 | $130,938 | Pay here → |
| Ontario Health Athome | 5 | $109,805 | $112,025 | Pay here → |
Highest Paid
2025
| # | Name | Employer | Title as filed | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Smith | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $156,981 | $157,278 |
| 2 | Rhonda Allan | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $156,310 | $156,607 |
| 3 | Kelly Mcguigan | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $153,802 | $154,096 |
| 4 | Naudea Mair | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $152,470 | $152,767 |
| 5 | Patricia Murphy-Kane | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $152,426 | $152,723 |
| 6 | Debra Johnston | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $152,113 | $152,407 |
| 7 | Carol Mcanuff | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $151,006 | $151,300 |
| 8 | Sherele Mcghie | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $151,006 | $151,300 |
| 9 | Mursal Abdully | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $151,006 | $151,300 |
| 10 | Regina Varsha Banks | University Health Network | Clinical Nurse Specialist | $150,641 | $150,935 |
By Year
Related Positions
- Registered Nurse31,254
- Manager2,664
- Nurse Practitioner1,832
- Social Worker1,812
- Pharmacist1,371
- Physiotherapist1,351
- Registered Practical Nurse1,317
- Occupational Therapist1,181
About these figures
Source: Ontario’s Public Sector Salary Disclosure (the “Sunshine List”), which names every public-sector employee paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year. Figures are disclosed salaries, not market compensation: anyone in this position earning under $100,000 does not appear, so medians here sit above the true median for the job.
Medians and percentiles use salary paid (benefits excluded), computed over records whose filed job title was normalized into this position. Titles are as each employer filed them; spellings, word order and bilingual forms are merged. Employers and years with fewer than five people show counts only. 2023: job titles were not disclosed, so that year has no position data. Titles before 2005 were abbreviated at source; the chart starts at 2005.
Data through 2025, the most recent Sunshine List disclosed.