Main highlights on income of families and individuals: Subprovincial data from the T1 Family File, 2022

Released: 2024-08-19

In 2022, the median family after-tax income of Canadians was $60,800, up by 2.5% from 2021, before adjusting for inflation. Adjusted for an annual rate of inflation of 6.8%, the 2022 median family after-tax income was 4.0% lower than in 2021.

All provinces and territories reported a year-over-year decrease in their median inflation-adjusted family after-tax income in 2022. The largest decreases were seen in Nunavut (-8.4%), the Northwest Territories (-7.2%) and Nova Scotia (-5.6%).

Younger families most impacted by the decrease in income

When grouping the data by family type and by the age of the oldest adult, almost all family groups recorded a decrease in their median inflation-adjusted family after-tax income in 2022. Persons not in census families aged 45 to 54 years were the only family group for whom the median after-tax income did not decrease, unchanged (0.0% difference) from 2021 to 2022.

Among all family groups, lone-parent families in which the parent was younger than 25 years of age recorded the largest decrease in median family after-tax income, falling 15.1% from 2021 to $24,690 in 2022. The next-largest decrease was among persons not in census families aged younger than 25 years, decreasing 12.9% to $17,650 in 2022, the lowest median income of all family groups. Couple families aged younger than 25 years had the third-largest decrease (-9.0% to $45,070 in 2022).

In contrast, senior families (in which the oldest adult was aged 65 years and older) were among the least impacted by changes in inflation-adjusted income. In fact, the median after-tax income for all senior families decreased by 1.8% from 2021 to $49,820 in 2022. Breaking senior families down by family type, the median family after-tax income decreased by 1.4% for both senior couples (to $74,200) and senior lone parents (to $69,880) in 2022, while it decreased by 1.2% for seniors not in census families (to $30,820). 

Low-income rates fall for senior families and rise for all others

Differences between younger and older families continue to be evident when looking at low-income rates. Senior families were the only age group to show a decrease in the proportion of persons living in low-income, falling 1.4 percentage points from 2021 to 14.8% in 2022. In contrast, the proportion of persons in low-income in the youngest families (in which the oldest adult was younger than 25 years) increased by 3.3 percentage points to 60.8% over this period. This increase was shared by the second-youngest age group, families in which the oldest adult was aged 25 to 34 years (+3.3 percentage points to 23.5%).

The family group with the lowest proportion of persons in low-income in 2022 was couple families in which the oldest adult was aged 55 to 64 years (+1.1 percentage points to 7.7%). This was followed closely by senior couples (-0.6 percentage points to 7.9%).

The highest occurrence of persons in low-income in 2022 was among lone-parent families in which the parent was younger than 25 years of age, for which this proportion was more than 8 in 10 persons (82.2%). The next-highest proportion of persons living in low-income was among lone-parent families in which the parent was aged 25 to 34 years (58.2%). It should be noted that the likelihood of persons from younger families living in low income is higher, as young persons are more likely to be unemployed or in school, and their income is frequently less than half the Canadian median. 

Median income falls below pre-COVID 19 pandemic levels in most provinces and territories

Comparing 2022 median income against that of 2019 can help us better understand the income situation of Canadian families following the two years of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and benefits. In 2022, the third year following the start of the pandemic, the median family after-tax income of all Canadians ($60,800) was at a level nearly equal (+0.1%) to that of 2019.

Among the provinces and territories, two provinces and one territory had increases in the median family after-tax income from 2019 to 2022: Quebec (+5.0%), Yukon (+1.7%) and British Columbia (+1.3%). The rest of Canada saw decreases, with the largest occurring in Nunavut (-6.4%), Alberta (-4.1%) and Ontario (-1.9%). There are multiple factors that drove these results, with a significant one being the change in wages, salaries and commissions.

Chart 1 
Median family after-tax income, 2019 and 2022

Among census metropolitan areas (CMAs), the four largest increases in median inflation-adjusted family after-tax income from 2019 to 2022 were in the province of Quebec in the CMAs of Sherbrooke (+6.2%), Montréal (+5.2%), Trois-Rivières (+5.2%) and Saguenay (+5.1%). Conversely, the CMAs of Edmonton (-5.1%), Windsor (-4.3%) and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (-4.1%) had the largest decreases.

Median family after-tax income is lower than pre-pandemic levels for lone parents younger than 25 years of age

Lone-parent families in which the parent was younger than 25 years of age were the sole family group to see their median family after-tax income fall in 2022 (-1.0%) when compared with 2019. Meanwhile, the younger-than-25-years age group for all family units had the largest increase in median family after-tax income, with the 2022 median income ($20,190) being 5.3% higher than it was in 2019. Despite this increase, the median income for family units in this age group was well under half (40.5%) that of the age group with the second-lowest median income, senior families, whose 2022 median family after-tax income ($49,820) was unchanged from its 2019 value.

Products

The Technical Reference Guide for the Annual Income Estimates for Census Families, Individuals and Seniors, T1 Family File, Final Estimates (Catalogue number72-212-X), presents information about the methodology, concepts and data quality for the data available in this release.

The free tables linked to this release are available for Canada, the provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas, and census agglomerations. Versions of these tables are also available as a custom service, upon request, for lower levels of geography. The tables are available for Canada, the provinces and territories, federal electoral districts, economic regions, census divisions, census subdivisions, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, census tracts, and postal-based geographies.

The most recent sub-provincial income information for families and individuals for metropolitan areas can also be explored in an interactive format by visiting the ''Income of men and women, sub-provincial regions, T1 Family File: Interactive tool'' and the ''Sources of family income by family type, sub-provincial regions, T1 Family File: Interactive tool.''

The Income, pensions, spending and wealth portal is accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website and provides users with access to a wide variety of information related to revenue, pensions, spending and wealth.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).