"I think it's only natural that the sunshine list does keep growing given what happens to salaries and inflation and the like," McGuinty said Tuesday before the list was made public.

"If we take a look at (Ontario Public Service) workers, those that have made it on the list this year have done so as a result of about a one per cent increase in their pay."

About one million Canadians have incomes of $100,000 or higher. There are 53,572 Ontario public sector workers on the list -- an increase of 10,000 people since the last list.

"For most Ontario families, $100,000 is a lot of money," McGuinty said.

"I think it's in their interest -- it's in everybody's interest -- that they know when somebody has achieved that level of publicly funded compensation."

The so-called "sunshine list" began in the 1996 during the days of former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris.

It lists everyone in the Ontario public service and broader public sector who make more than $100,000 annually. Those broader agencies include hospitals, municipalities, schools and post-secondary institutions, and government-owned energy companies. Source.