Top 1% of Canada’s earners getting richer, while lowest half see incomes drop

According to Statistics Canada, the recovery seen by Canada following the first year of the pandemic produced uneven income gains. 

As COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased and the labour market began to recover in 2021, the average total income of some of Canada’s highest earners rose by nearly 10 per cent from the previous year, while those considered in the “bottom half” saw their incomes decline, new numbers from Statistics Canada show.

According to the agency, the recovery seen by Canada following the first year of the pandemic produced uneven income gains.

In 2021, the average total income of the top one per cent of all tax filers rose by 9.4 per cent to $579,100, excluding capital gains.

Income among the top 0.1 per cent increased by 17.4 per cent to $2,086,100 and income made by the top 0.01 per cent soaring by 25.7 per cent to $7,731,400.

At the same time, tax filers in the bottom 50 per cent of the country saw their average total incomes decline by $1,400 to $21,100 in 2021 from $22,500 in 2020. The agency said this was, in part, due to the lowering or ending of government transfers that were put in place to help Canadians during lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These increases in income for the top earners were driven by wages and salaries, with the average wage and salary income rising between 12 per cent for the top one per cent up to 34.5 per cent for the top 0.01 per cent.

However, StatCan notes dividend income was also an important contributor to top earners’ income in 2021.

And while income estimates typically exclude capital gains, the numbers released Friday show this money — which typically include gains made from the sale of an asset, stocks, or property — rose sharply in 2021.  Statistics Canada notes that’s in line with values seen in the housing and stock markets, which rose in 2021.