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City of Ottawa vs City of Toronto: who pays more?

In 2025 City of Ottawa listed 5,181 employees with a median of $117,638; City of Toronto listed 13,079 with a median of $128,018 — that is 9% more at the median for City of Toronto, and City of Toronto lists 2.5× as many people.

On the list

City of Ottawa
5,181
City of Toronto
13,079

employees paid $100K+, 2025

Median salary

City of Ottawa
$117,638
City of Toronto
$128,018

salary paid, 2025

Average salary

City of Ottawa
$125,013
City of Toronto
$135,219

salary paid, 2025

Listed payroll

City of Ottawa
$651.5M
City of Toronto
$1.8B

total compensation, 2025

Median salary by year
19962025

  • City of Ottawa
  • City of Toronto
City of Ottawa and City of Toronto, 1996–2025City of Ottawa: $113,399 in 1996 to $117,638 in 2025. City of Toronto: $107,575 in 1996 to $128,018 in 2025.$0$50K$100K$150K1996200620152025

Median salary paid on each employer’s Sunshine List filing. A gap is a year the employer filed nobody under this name.

Year by year

City of Ottawa and City of Toronto by year: people on the Sunshine List and median salary
YearCity of OttawaCity of Toronto
PeopleMedianPeopleMedian
20255,181$117,63813,079$128,018
20244,686$116,55510,256$125,118
20233,913$115,5929,256$123,848
20224,150$116,6438,107$122,667
20213,285$113,1727,345$119,193
20203,375$116,4117,239$115,178
20193,251$112,3906,806$113,267
20182,484$110,5676,188$113,493
20172,115$111,6255,872$114,019
20161,666$110,7084,400$113,699
20151,885$110,3674,382$113,021
20141,153$111,5054,901$111,860
20131,149$110,9674,892$111,793
2012820$110,3002,375$112,127
2011781$110,2482,189$110,973
2010691$110,8132,137$111,128
2009722$110,1032,072$113,447
2008980$113,0671,552$112,478
2007195$110,5851,738$110,895
2006241$108,920989$108,239
2005191$107,169732$109,811
2004124$107,920503$111,467
2003192$107,317527$114,005
2002123$111,099407$114,334
200180$110,700198$112,434
200023$109,334205$114,732
199914$110,072116$107,570
1998100$108,055
19978$105,59152$110,437
19965$113,39934$107,575

Related questions

Method. Medians and averages are salary paid; listed payroll is total compensation (salary plus taxable benefits), as filed. Both sides come from the same Ontario Sunshine List, which covers only public-sector employees paid $100,000 or more — so this compares the shape of each employer’s six-figure payroll, not its whole workforce, and an employer with more low-paid staff simply lists fewer of them. A side with fewer than five people keeps its count but shows “<5” instead of a median, average or payroll figure, since any of those would be that handful of people’s own numbers. Sector: Municipalities & Services. Data runs through 2025.