High-income Canadians, 2022

Released: 2024-10-28

Average income falls faster for the highest income group than for the bottom 50%

Average incomes, adjusted for inflation, declined across the whole of the income distribution from 2021 to 2022. This was mainly due to the winding down of COVID-19 pandemic-related government benefit programs in addition to an inflation rate of 6.8%—the highest increase in 40 years on an annual average basis.

Average income fell by 5.1% to $586,900 among the top 1% of tax filers in 2022, and it fell at a faster pace among the top 0.1% (-6.9% to $2,073,000) and the top 0.01% (-9.9% to $7,436,400). Tax filers in the lower portions of the income distribution were not spared, with average income of the bottom 50% of filers decreasing by 7.6% to $20,800.

Inflation-adjusted income levels in 2022 remain higher than the pre-pandemic period

Despite these recent year-over-year decreases, average income levels across the income distribution were higher in 2022 when compared with pre-pandemic levels of 2019. The average income of tax filers in the top 1% (+2.8%), the top 0.1% (+5.1%) and the top 0.01% (+4.3%) all saw increases over this period, as did that of those in the bottom 50% (+1.9%).

Average income down in most provinces

Changes in average income for the 1% high-income group varied by province or territory of residence. While average incomes and wages and salaries of filers decreased in most provinces from 2021 to 2022, the three territories and New Brunswick were the exceptions. While the average income of filers in the top 1% increased in the territories, their average wages and salaries decreased by $14,000, suggesting that the income increases came from sources other than wages or salaries. In New Brunswick, tax filers in the top 1% saw their average income decrease despite an increase of $21,400 in wages, as the decrease in other income sources outweighed the wage and salary increase.

Women in the top 0.1% group had income gains

Women represented one in four tax filers in the top 1% of income in 2022. Among tax filers in the high-income groups, average income fell for men in all the top income groups and for women in the top 1%. Women in the top 0.1% saw their average income increase by $30,600 from 2021 to 2022, mainly due to various returns on investment income. While the wage and salary income of women in the top 0.1% fell by 5.8% from 2021 to 2022, the effect of this decrease was countered by substantial increases in income from dividends, limited partnerships, rental income and investments, together accounting for a 22.9% increase.

Dividend income rises at a slower rate in 2022 than in 2021

Dividends are a major source of income for the highest income groups. In contrast to wage and salary income, dividend income increased for the top income groups from 2021 to 2022, but at a much slower rate than from 2020 to 2021. Average dividend income increased for the top 1% by 0.8% to $97,100 in 2022, while the top 0.1% (+4.6% to $479,700) and the top 0.01% (+1.5% to $2,178,600) also saw increases.

Capital gains fall for the top income groups

Income estimates normally exclude capital gains, which are the net income from the sale of assets or other properties. However, it is common to examine capital gains separately as money available to high income earners. The capital gains received by the top income groups in 2022 decreased from 2021. The top 1% of filers saw their capital gains decrease by 30.3% from 2021 to 2022, an average decrease of $34,200. Filers in the top 0.1% (-29.0% or -$139,900) and the top 0.01% (-13.4% or -$177,000) also saw decreases.

High income persistence

Composition of the top income groups changes over time, with many tax filers moving into and out of the high-income categories. Observing the top 1% of income tax filers in 2022 shows that the majority (69.1%) were in the same income group in 2021, but that less than half (49.2%) were there in 2017. Even lower proportions of tax filers remained in the top 0.1% (58.9%) or top 0.01% (42.1%) groups in 2022 compared with 2017 (39.9% remained in the top 0.1% and 29.6% remained in the top 0.01%). Nevertheless, while large proportions of these tax filers did not remain in the exact same group, they had a degree of consistency by remaining at the uppermost end of the income distribution. More than three in four tax filers (77.1%) in the top 1% of the income distribution in 2022 had incomes that put them in the top 5% annually since 2017. In 2022, nearly 9 in 10 tax filers (88.9%) in the top 0.1% group have had incomes in the top 5% since 2017, and this proportion was even higher among those in the top 0.01% group (92.9%).

Products

The Longitudinal Administrative Data Dictionary (Catalogue number12-585-X) contains a description for each of the income and demographic variables in the Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD), including name, acronym, definition, source, historical availability and historical continuity.

Derived from the LAD, data tables for 1982 to 2021 on Canadian tax filers with high incomes (11-10-0055-01 and 11-10-0056-01), the low-income dynamics (11-10-0024-01, 11-10-0025-01 and 11-10-0026-01), the family income mobility of Canadian tax filers (11-10-0059-01 and 11-10-0061-01), and effective tax rates (11-10-0054-01 and 11-10-0058-01) are now available for various provinces and selected census metropolitan areas.

The Income, pensions, spending and wealth portal, which is accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, provides users with a single point of 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).