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Retirements and budgetary pressures led to Alberta’s post-secondary institutions paying out $12 million to departing employees in 2015.

Eight of the top 10 spots on the sunshine list were claimed by education facilities, with the University of Lethbridge leading the way, paying more than $2.3 million to 18 former employees.

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The “vast majority” of those severances were the result of two early retirement programs, said Nancy Walker, the university’s vice-president of finance and administration.

Some former employees negotiated packages to be paid over a few years, but the total appears in the 2015 list, Walker added.

“While in the short term, there are one-time severance costs associated with these programs, there is an annual continuing budget reduction of approximately $3 million per year,” Walker said.

“Post-secondary institutions are continually looking at their bottom lines and that financial sustainability is a critical goal of our institution.”

About 9,000 people were named on the 2015 list, which made public all the government employees who earned more than $104,754. That year marked the first time Alberta’s post-secondary institutions were compelled by the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act to publish the salaries of all employees who earned more than $125,000.