Sault College brass asks for public input on how much they get paid

Sault College is inviting the public for feedback on what their top management officials should be paid.

The postsecondary institution is looking at capping the president’s salary at $325,000, with other top management officials capped at $221,000.

Ron Common, Sault College president, made $295,210 in 2015.

The province is currently working on a move to limit salaries of executives working in publicly funded institutions, such as colleges, universities, school boards and hospitals.

The public may provide their input to Sault College here until Thursday.

The province has a framework in place for the salary limits, which can be viewed here

Publicly funded employers must post a "compliant executive compensation program" on their websites no later than September 5, 2017.

When asked by SooToday if there is a feeling among college brass that higher pay is needed, Lyne Gagnon, Sault College board of governors chair, replied in an email “No there isn’t.  This framework is required by regulation and the ranges are intended to comply with that regulation.”

“Sault College will treat this very seriously and judiciously and will not be seeking to make big raises,” Gagnon wrote in her email response.

“The Board has developed this draft with consideration to balance fiscal responsibility with the need to attract and retain leaders able to deliver high quality public services,” wrote Gagnon in a release posted on the College’s website.   

“Each of the 24 colleges across Ontario relies on the Senior Leadership Teams responsible for managing complex, shifting and diverse affairs. The individuals on our team provide the leadership required to achieve the college’s strategic objectives, which are directly linked to the development of a new generation of leaders and innovators who will contribute to an inclusive, prosperous and globally competitive Ontario,” Gagnon wrote.

“Sault College’s Senior Leadership Team is accountable for a budget of over $56 million dollars across twelve sites, delivering programs in over seventy areas of study. Each year over 3,000 full-time and part-time students choose Sault College to help them gain the skills and credentials necessary to be successful not only today but also in tomorrow’s labour force. For these reasons, it is imperative that an executive compensation program is appropriate, accountable and effective,” Gagnon wrote.

Sault College’s proposed salary maximums were determined by taking a comparative look at what managers at other colleges make.

George Burton, president of Canadore College in North Bay, could see his pay jump from $213,310, reported in 2015, to a maximum of $325,000 under changes proposed at that school.

Under the provincial formula, the maximum salary for college presidents can be as high as $445,000, which can be reduced by 27 per cent considering such factors as the relative size of a specific college and complexity of the job. 

The same formula allows for a maximum of $303,000 for senior college managers.

The provincial framework applies to managers at publicly funded institutions who are entitled to receive $100,000 or more in a calendar year and who hold the title of chief executive officer, president, chief administrative officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief information officer, a person holding any other executive position or office with a designated employer regardless of title, or a director of education or supervisory officer of a school board.

All such designated employers are required to post draft executive compensation programs on their public websites for a minimum of 30 days to allow members of the public to comment.

There have been a number of legislative moves by the province over the last six years to determine executive pay in Ontario’s public sector, beginning with the Public Sector Compensation Restraint to Protect Public Services Act in 2010, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act in 2012, the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act of 2014, then the latest regulations to that act announced in September.