Salaries at the top of Ontario’s struggling colleges remained steady last year, according to the Sunshine List, after another bruising 12 months of layoffs and restructuring ended with a potential tuition fee hike and sweeping changes to student loans.

The province’s 24 publicly funded colleges have struggled significantly ever since a federal cap on the number of international students, which made up roughly a third of their revenue, was introduced at the beginning of 2024.

Figures released through mediation last summer estimated some 8,000 staff had been laid off across the sector, with more than 600 programs cut. More colleges have announced voluntary and involuntary layoffs since then.

Despite the thousands of staff who have been shown the door, compensation at the very top of Ontario’s colleges has remained close to half a million dollars for the top five presidents in the province.

Data released through Ontario’s annual salary disclosure, known as the Sunshine List, shows the average pay for presidents of Conestoga, Fleming, Humber, Seneca and Mohawk colleges in 2025 was roughly $507,000 — up around three per cent from the year before.

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John Tibbits, the recently departed president of Conestoga College, topped the list with $601,684 in pay last year. That’s down from the $636,106.70 he earned in 2024, but still substantially higher than $494,716.07 in 2023.

Maureen Adamson of Fleming College earned the second-highest salary of any college president at $512,428. She also recently left her role at the top of the college — her pay jumping 43 per cent in her final year of service.

Humber College’s president pulled in around $497,000 in 2025, while the head of Seneca earned just over $476,000. The president of Mohawk College made $445,166.97 in 2025, the lowest paid of the top five.

Three of the top five presidents also received five-figure taxable benefits, which can include perks like a car allowance, along with their salaries. David Agnew, president of Seneca, had taxable benefits worth $18,094.64

At least four of the five of the colleges run by the highest paid presidents laid off staff in the past 12 months.

Conestoga has been hit with repeated layoffs, including some 400 notices the union said were given to staff in December. Fleming College also announced a round of layoffs expected to impact dozens of staff members in the summer, while Humber College recently announced layoffs after voluntary exits failed to reduce its headcount sufficiently.

Mohawk College laid off tens of staff in a recent round of cuts.

Global News approached all five colleges on Friday; only Humber College responded ahead of publication.

“Executive compensation at Humber, including the President’s salary, is set by the Board of Governors through a transparent process that benchmarks against comparable institutions. These decisions are made independently of day-to-day operational decisions and follow sector standards for accountability and governance,” a spokesperson wrote.

“Like other Ontario institutions, Humber is impacted by the extraordinary budgetary and financial pressures facing the post-secondary sector overall.”

Colleges Ontario also did not respond to a request for comment.

The Sunshine List was first introduced in 1996, with the promise of making it easier for taxpayers to see where some of their money is being spent.

The annual list takes into account total compensation, including overtime or severance payments.

According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, $100,000 from 1996, when the Sunshine List was launched, is worth north of  $185,017.03 in 2024. About 22,530 names on the list are over that inflationary threshold.

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