Alberta expands ‘sunshine’ list

Greater pay transparency for public sector, physicians, health-care workers

The government of Alberta has introduced Bill 5, the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act, to increase transparency by addressing the disclosure of compensation paid to a wide variety of public sector employees, appointees, physicians, and other health practitioners.

The proposed legislation would require compensation disclosure for certain employees who work for agencies, boards and commissions; public post-secondary institutions; offices of the Legislature; and health service entities.

Bill 5 will result in salary disclosure primarily for those earning more than $125,000 per year, putting the focus on higher-income earners and managers, said the government.

It also moves compensation disclosure for government employees, currently a Treasury Board directive, into legislation. The threshold remains the same, at $104,754.

The legislation will empower the government to bring in regulations disclosing fee-for-service and other payments to physicians and medical practitioners. Municipalities and school boards will be enabled, but not required, to disclose compensation paid to employees.

“This government has committed to increasing transparency and we are keeping our promise. This legislation will allow Alberta taxpayers to see where their dollars are spent. We are also committed to working closely with those affected by this legislation to support compliance," said Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, Kathleen Ganley. 

The legislation will include a provision to allow individual exemptions for safety reasons.

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