1,641 TMU employees throwing off the shade for a little bit of ‘sunshine’ in 2022

By Jake MacAndrew

Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) number of employees on the Ontario government’s public sector salary disclosure, commonly known as the Sunshine List, slightly increased compared to last year.

This year, 1,641 TMU employees were listed as making over $100,000 in 2022, a 2.56 per cent increase from the 1,600 employees that made the list in 2021.

Of the TMU employees on the Sunshine List, 312 earned over $200,000

The average salary of all TMU faculty making over $100,000 is $156,522.32—a $1344.34 increase from 2021.

Every year since 1996, the provincial government releases a list of all public sector employees who have earned more than $100,000 in the previous year before tax and without benefits.

The list includes the employee’s name, company, salary and tax benefits they gain.

The highest paid employee at TMU in 2022 was president Mohamed Lachemi with an annual salary of $426,973.12. His salary did not increase from the previous year.

Vice-president university advancement and alumni relations Ian Mishkel made $335,000.04 in 2022—an approximate 1.5 per cent decrease from 2021.

Special advisor to the president, equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization curriculum transformation Jennifer Simpson earned $329,697.48.

In 2021, she earned $154,999.98 as provost and vice-president from the start of her term in July to the end of December.

Simpson switched to her current role in September 2022, according to a TorontoMet Today update.

Adjusted for inflation, $100,000 in 1996 would be equal to 175,368.90 in 2023, according to the Bank of Canada. The average salary in Ontario was $48,900 when last updated in 2020, according to Statistics Canada.

Here’s who made the top 10 largest salaries at TMU in 2022:

1. Mohamed Lachemi, president: $426,973.12
2. Ian Mishkel, vice president university advancement and alumni relations: $335,000.04
3. Jennifer Simpson, special advisor to the president, equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization curriculum transformation: $329,697.48
4. Denise O’Neil Green, former vice president equity and community inclusion: $324,973.04
5. Daphne Taras, dean of Ted Rogers School of Management: $315,701.10
6. Wendy Cukier, professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy: $310,686.68
7. Donna Young, dean of the School of Law: $310,243.04
8. Julia Shin Doi, general counsel and secretary of Board of Governors and university privacy officer: $299,000.87
9. Steven Liss, vice president research and innovation: $298,900.04
10. Thomas Duever, dean of Engineering and Architectural Science: $295,819.76

The full list is available here.

CORRECTION: A previous version on the story said Jennifer Simpson recieved a 113 per cent salary increase from 2021 to 2022. However, the university confirmed that she began her employment at TMU in July 2021 and thus was only paid partially that year.