Each year according to the Nova Scotia Public Sector Compensation Act, all public sector organizations in Nova Scotia are required to publicly report the names and salaries of all employees whose compensation (salary, benefits and pension) exceeds $100,000. This includes all universities. The report is for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.
View the full report: Dalhousie University Public Sector Compensation Disclosure 2022 [PDF]
Report details
There are 1,227 Dalhousie faculty and administrative staff whose compensation totaled $100,000 or more in 2021-2022, an increase of 195 individuals over last year’s report. Of these, 1,015 (82.7.%) are faculty, while the remaining 212 (17.3%) are administrators or senior university staff (with no academic affiliation).
Salaries at the university generally increase each year, as the university’s collective agreements and contracts are designed to take cost-of-living increases into account.
In 2021/22, new collective agreements were reached with Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) and the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) Local 77, which resulted in a one percent salary increase effective July 1, 2020, and 1.25 percent effective July 1, 2021, for both employee groups. Non-unionized employees (DPMG, etc.) were given the same salary adjustments in June 2021.
“People are the cornerstone of Dalhousie,” says Gitta Kulczycki, vice-president, finance and administration. “It’s important to attract and retain them, which means providing competitive salaries that not only reflects their contributions to the university, but also compares well with other universities.”
“We are also the only U-15 leading research-intensive university in Atlantic Canada, and we often need to recruit for researchers, faculty and staff across North America and internationally,” adds Kulczycki.
President Deep Saini received compensation this year of $558,154 which is commensurate to that of other Canadian research-intensive university presidents. The president’s salary can increase based on key performance indicators and recommendations of the Board of Governors. Dr. Saini’s contract is public and is available on our website.
How Dal compares
Dalhousie University salaries for faculty are competitive with national averages, however the university’s renumeration for administration is at the lower end when compared to Canadian universities of similar size.
According to Statistics Canada data for 2020/2021 (the most recent year that data from all Canadian universities is available) the average salary of full-time teaching staff in Canada was $134,733. Dalhousie’s average salary for full-time teaching staff (including deans and medical/dental faculty) sits at $143,350. Dalhousie benchmarks its academic salaries against a group of comparator research intensive universities across Canada to ensure its salaries are competitive to continue to recruit and retain excellent faculty.
The most recent numbers reported to the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO 2019-20) show Dalhousie’s administrative spending at 6.8 per cent of total expenses. Dalhousie’s administrative costs are the second lowest in the U15 group of universities. When compared to Nova Scotia universities, Dalhousie’s percentage of administration costs is the lowest (6.4 per cent), where the average of the other universities is 16.4 per cent.
Dalhousie’s report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 is also available to view on the Government of Nova Scotia’s website.
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