The most honest statistical portrait of Newfoundland sunshine begins with a confession: this is not a sunny province by continental standards. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, St. John’s, the provincial capital, averages approximately 1,497 hours of bright sunshine per year. To put that in perspective, it is less than half the annual sunshine of Calgary (over 2,400 hours) and significantly less than Toronto (over 2,000 hours). More striking is the statistic that St. John’s is officially the cloudiest, foggiest, and windiest major city in Canada. The city experiences over 200 days per year with measurable fog or low cloud—a phenomenon caused by the collision of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream just off the Grand Banks.
Medical specialists dominate the top 10 highest-paid positions, primarily oncologists and internists with compensation ranging from $568,000 to $718,000 .
A critical statistical observation for Newfoundland’s list is the density of earners clustered just above the $100,000 mark. Unlike jurisdictions with higher costs of living (like Ontario or Alberta), where $100,000 is a standard mid-career salary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, this threshold captures a broader swath of the public service, including senior teachers, staff sergeants in the RNC, and mid-level civil servants. sunshineliststats newfoundland
Historically, the threshold in Newfoundland and Labrador was higher, initially applying only to employees earning over $100,000 in salary alone. However, legislative changes several years ago mandated that the disclosure include severance, overtime, and other benefits. This change resulted in a statistical "spike" in the number of names appearing on the list, as employees who might earn an $85,000 base salary but work significant overtime (common in healthcare and corrections) suddenly crossed the disclosure threshold.
: Over 4,600 employees fall within this entry-level "sunshine" range. To put that in perspective, it is less
Analysis of SunshineListStats.com data reveals significant concentration in high-earning brackets and specific sectors:
: Radiation oncologists and specialized physicians frequently occupy the highest spots on the list. The city experiences over 200 days per year
However, the “list” aspect of sunshineliststats reveals fascinating internal variation. While the Avalon Peninsula (home to St. John’s) languishes in maritime murk, the western and southern coasts—particularly the Burin Peninsula and the area around Channel-Port aux Basques—record significantly more sunshine. Corner Brook, on the west coast, enjoys clearer skies due to the rain shadow effect of the Long Range Mountains. Meanwhile, Labrador, the vast mainland portion, presents a continental extreme: the northern community of Nain sees prolonged periods of 24-hour daylight in summer (the “midnight sun”) followed by complete darkness in winter, skewing annual sunshine totals in a way that defies southern logic.
