A Canadian had to earn at least $271,300 a year in 2021 to be part of the richest 1% of citizens in the country, Statistics Canada data released Friday showed.
This is a 3.4% increase compared to 2020 in the annual income necessary to enter Canada’s economic elite. In 2021, she earned an average of $579,100.
The 1% club counted 292,560 Canadians in 2021, a slight jump of 4,160 people due to population growth. Of these, 73.9% are men, while only 26.1% of the 1% club are women.
To get into the even more elite level of the top 0.1% of earners, a Canadian had to earn $895,600. That amount rises to more than $3.4 million for the richest 0.01%, a very select club that includes fewer than 3,000 Canadians.
A minority of Quebecers
Of the 292,000 Canadians in the 1%, only 52,010 are Quebecois, or slightly less than 18% of the total, even though Quebec represents 22% of the country’s population.
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Alberta (42,275 wealthy) and British Columbia (42,870 wealthy) have similar numbers of 1% club members to Quebec, despite having half the population. Ontario has more than twice as many (133,215) as La Belle Province.
Inequality
Data released Friday also suggest rising inequality in Canada. Only members of the 1% club declared 10.4% of the country’s income.
“This is an increase from 9.4% in 2020 and the highest level recorded since 2015,” Statistics Canada said.
On average, Canadians reported an income of $55,900 in 2021, an amount five times less than the minimum for the 1% club.
Half of Canadians in the bottom 50% of income earners settled for an average income of $21,100, down $1,400 from 2020. This decline can be attributed to the end of programs put in place by governments during the pandemic, such as Canada’s Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
Erratum: a previous version of this article stated that it took $579,100 to be in the 1%, $2.1 million for the 0.1%, and $7.7 million for the 0.01%. Rather, it was the averages earned by Canadians falling into these categories. Sorry.
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