Special Advisor Salary in Ontario (2025)
228 disclosed records, 1996–2025 · mostly Government of Ontario – Ministries (54%)
At a Glance
2025
Disclosed
26
2025 Sunshine List
Median Salary
$129,335
+5.8% vs provincial median
Typical Range
$113,788–$174,212
25th–75th percentile
Top Salary
$1,907,409
Who is the highest-paid Special Advisor in Ontario?
The highest-paid Special Advisor on the 2025 Sunshine List was Kenneth Hartwick at Ontario Power Generation, with a salary of $1,907,409; the median among the 26 listed under this title was $129,335.
Take-Home Pay
(After Tax) · 2025 estimate
A Special Advisor paid the 2025 median of $129,335 would take home roughly $92,175 after income tax, CPP and EI — about $7,681 a month, an effective rate of about 24.5%. Across every sector the 2025 median was $122,262, so this position sits about 6% above it. The 2025 list carries 26 people filed as Special Advisor. Most Government of Ontario – Ministries employees belong to PSPP or OPTrust, so actual take-home is likely another 7–10% lower after pension contributions.
- Estimated net pay
- ~$92,175
- Effective income-tax rate (excl. CPP/EI)
- ~24.5%
- CPP + EI contributions
- ~$5,507
- Per month, after tax
- ~$7,681
Where does $129,335 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.
Highest Paid
2025
| # | Name | Employer | Title as filed | Salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenneth Hartwick | Ontario Power Generation | Special Advisor | $1,907,409 | $1,910,992 |
| 2 | Armand De Kemp | Ontario Public Service Pension Board (Ontario Pension Board) | Special Advisor / Conseiller spécial | $348,694 | $348,993 |
| 3 | Pat Chaukos | Ontario Securities Commission | Special Advisor / Conseillère spéciale | $319,617 | $319,617 |
| 4 | John Phippen | Sheridan College Institute Of Technology and Advanced Learning | Special Advisor | $202,671 | $204,686 |
| 5 | Mark Britt | University Of Toronto | Special Advisor | $197,417 | $197,417 |
| 6 | Joseph Chiarelli | City Of Vaughan | Special Advisor | $197,011 | $197,011 |
| 7 | Karen Noakes | Ontario Provincial Police | Special Advisor | $174,212 | $174,212 |
| 8 | Joseph Goodwin | Ontario Provincial Police | Special Advisor | $168,961 | $170,153 |
| 9 | Felice Lambermont | Legal Aid Ontario | Special Advisor / Conseillère spéciale | $161,285 | $161,285 |
| 10 | Patricia Best | Office Of The Premier | Special Advisor | $155,236 | $155,431 |
By Year
Related Positions
- General Duty Officer2,942
- Law Enforcement Officer2,864
- Team Leader1,492
- Investigator1,192
- Assistant Crown Attorney997
- Senior Policy Advisor933
- Supervisor874
- Counsel737
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.