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Introduction

This report examines the income of families and unattached individuals along with information related to low income in Canada. The data prior to 1996 are drawn from the Survey of Consumer Finances. Beginning with 1996, the data are taken from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics(SLID).

Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) undertook major changes this year. Four years were added to the historical data from 1976 to 1979. Also, SCF data was adapted as much as possible to concepts of the SLID. Some concepts were almost identical between the two surveys, such as income data for which changes were minimal. However, other concepts differed and thus some variables were modified. For example, the SCF “head of family” was replaced with the SLID “major income earner”. As a result, variables related to family characteristics were affected by this change. For further information about the transformation of SCF data and on its impacts on estimates see section Data quality, concepts and methodology — Notes and definitions in the SLID Overview.

Note that this report analyses family income on the basis of medians. The median is the point at which half of all families had higher income than the rest, and half had less. All figures included in this report (unless otherwise stated) are sample survey estimates. All income estimates are expressed in constant 2006 dollars to factor in inflation and allow for comparisons across time in real terms.