Investment income, 2016
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Released: 2018-02-16
Both the number of Canadian tax filers reporting investment income and the actual amount of investment income declined in 2016. Investment income refers to the sum of dividend income from taxable Canadian corporations and interest income from investments in non-tax-sheltered vehicles.
Nationally, just over 7.3 million tax filers reported income from investments in 2016, down 2.2% from 2015.
Investment income also decreased at the national level in 2016, down 16.8% to $68.9 billion (in constant dollars). This was in marked contrast to the 18.2% increase in 2015, but brought the amount more in line with 2014 levels. Over the two year period from 2014 to 2016, the decrease was 1.3% (in constant dollars).
Decreases in investment income occurred in every province and territory except Yukon (+4.5%) and New Brunswick (+4.1%). Alberta (-40.0%) and Northwest Territories (-37.2%) reported the largest declines in 2016. Notably, Alberta (+34.0%) and the Northwest Territories (+40.5%) had the largest increases in 2015. As with the national picture, the large declines in Alberta and Northwest Territories bring the level of investment income received in these regions in 2016 closer to the levels seen in 2014.
Median investment income also decreased nationally, from $670 in 2015 to $650 in 2016 (in constant dollars). In other words, half of the tax filers reporting investment income in 2016 reported more than $650, while the other half reported less than $650.
Tax filers in British Columbia reported the highest median investment income ($820), followed by those in Alberta ($810) and Yukon ($740). Tax filers in Nunavut reported the lowest median investment income ($160), followed by Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories (both at $330).
Among census metropolitan areas (CMAs), tax filers in Victoria and Kelowna reported the highest median investment income ($1,080), followed by Calgary ($970). The lowest median investment income was reported in Saguenay ($380) and St. John's ($390).
Victoria was also the CMA with the highest proportion of tax filers reporting investment income (36.1%), followed by Kelowna (34.7%) and Vancouver (34.6%).
Note to readers
For this release, investment income recipients are defined as tax filers who either reported dividend income from taxable Canadian corporations or reported interest income. Income earned from investments held under the terms of registered retirement savings plans or registered income funds, for example, are excluded. Capital gains are also excluded.
In comparisons involving dollar amounts in this release, all figures for previous years have been adjusted for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
All data in this release have been tabulated according to the 2016 Standard Geographical Classification used for the 2016 Census.
A census metropolitan area (CMA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (also known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more must live in the core.
Products
The data on Canadian Investment Income (, various prices), Canadian Investors ( 17C0008, various prices), Canadian Savers ( 17C0007, various prices), Canadian Capital Gains ( 17C0009, various prices) and Canadian Tax filers ( 17C0012, various prices) are now available for Canada, the provinces and territories, economic regions, census divisions, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, census tracts, and postal-based geographies. These custom services are available upon request. 17C0010CANSIM tables for this release are available for Canada, province and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.
The following table is also available: CANSIM table 111-0041: Summary characteristics of Canadian tax filers.
The technical reference guide "Investment Income, RRSP Contributions and Charitable Donations, T1 Family File, Preliminary Estimates " (), presents information about the methodology, concepts and data quality for the data available in this release. 72-211-X
Contact information
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