The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Manitoba government to cut spending on government salaries after CTF analysis shows the province’s sunshine list more than doubled since 2020.

“Taxpayers can’t afford to keep bankrolling this out-of-control government wage bill,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Premier Wab Kinew needs to find savings to pay down debt and it should start by trimming its massive payroll.”

The Manitoba government’s sunshine list shows 34,304 government employees were paid more than $100,000 annually in 2025, according to recently released data. Only 12,320 made more than $100,000 in 2020.

That’s a 178 per cent increase.

The average Manitoban earns about $63,290 per year.

Paying employees is the government’s largest expense. The government spent $2.6 billion more paying employees in 2025 than in 2020. Paying employees made up about 44 per cent of the government’s entire budget last year.

Government employees earn an average of 4.8 per cent more than those who work in the private sector. Manitoba government employees also retire 2.3 years earlier and have stronger job security than average Manitobans.

The government is increasing the provincial debt to $38 billion by the end of this year. Debt interest payments are costing taxpayers $2.4 billion this year, or about $1,582 per person.

“It’s impossible to stop borrowing money and pay down debt while handing out more and more six-figure salaries every year,” Haubrich said. “Kinew needs to stop handing out huge wages while hiking taxes on normal Manitobans who are having trouble with the basics.”

The sunshine list calculations can be found HERE.