The incomes of Canada’s wealthiest one per cent grew nearly three times faster than those of everyone else in 2017, according to a new study released by Statistics Canada Monday.
In fact, the incomes of the wealthiest 0.01 per cent grew more than 10 times faster than those of the rest of Canadians, the study found.
According to the study, in 2017 the average total income of all tax-filers rose 2.5 per cent to $48,400 compared to the previous year. The average income of the bottom half of tax filers increased 2.4 per cent to $17,200. The incomes of the poorest Canadians grew at the slowest pace at 1.9 per cent, according to the study.
But those in the top one per cent – a total of 277,695 Canadian tax filers – saw average income growth that year of 8.5 per cent to $477,700.
Tax filers in Canada’s top 0.1 per cent, who made at least $740,300 in 2017, took home 17.2 per cent more income than in 2016. People in the top 0.01 per cent, who made $2.7 million or more – a total of 2,780 tax filers – saw their incomes rise 27.2 per cent in 2017,making it the fourth-highest annual increase since 1982.
The report’s release comes with the federal election campaign in full swing – and political pledges on taxes and helping regular folks with their finances have been prominent.
In 2016, the Liberal government increased the tax rate on income in the highest bracket. But the Statistics Canada report says that, even with the boost, the overall effective tax rate for those with the highest incomes edged down from 31.3 per cent in 2016 to 30.9 per cent in 2017 because of reductions at the provincial level, especially in Quebec.
With files from The Canadian Press
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.