WATERLOO REGION — It pays well to head up an international think-tank in Waterloo.

New salary numbers made public Wednesday show the top earners in the broader public sector in Waterloo Region last year led the stargazing Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the deep-thinking Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Former Perimeter director Neil Turok earned $526,664 including benefits.

Turok, who recently stepped down as director but remains at the think-tank, topped a list of 5,845 people earning more than $100,000 at local governments, schools, services and agencies.

No. 2 on the list is Rohinton Medhora, president of the international governance centre, who earned $480,679, including benefits.

The two scholars have been among the top three public employees in this region since 2016.

The top-earning local woman last year was Deborah MacLatchy, president of Wilfrid Laurier University. She's ninth on the salary list with compensation of $347,252 including benefits.

Laurier is still paying almost that much to its former president, Max Blouw, who left the office in 2017 and earned $338,280, including benefits, from the school last year.

This puts him at No. 11 on the local list, just two spots behind his successor.

Laurier's explanation: university presidents often get a year of paid leave for each five-year term they serve. Blouw presided over Laurier for two terms and is in his second year of paid leave.

Ontario releases public sector salaries exceeding $100,000 every year. The list of local high earners has hit 5,845 people, up from 2,203 people nine years ago.

The list of top-paid people includes many you might expect, such as 1,864 professors or faculty at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College.

It includes some you might not expect, such as five bus drivers at Grand River Transit who earned between $100,883 and $108,311, including benefits, after working lots of overtime.

Many workers on the front lines of trouble made the top-paid list: 470 police constables, 256 firefighters, and 42 paramedics. There are also 261 teachers and 202 nurses.

The local list excludes other government employees whose place of work is not made public in the provincial release.

The Progressive Conservative government counted 151,197 high earners on the full Ontario list.

It said the average private worker earns $16,049 less than the average worker in the public sector, including people earning less than $100,000.

The government has paused all pay hikes for public sector leaders, pending a review.

"We must put structures in place that create a culture of efficiency, and balance the need to attract necessary talent with respect for taxpayer dollars," Peter Bethlenfalvy, president of the Treasury Board, said in a statement.

Go online at therecord.com to search all 5,845 local names on the six-figure salary list.

jouthit@therecord.com

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