A Canadian had to earn at least $579,100 a year to be among the country’s 1% richest citizens in 2021, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
This represents a 9.4% increase in the annual income required to enter Canada’s economic elite compared to 2020
The 1% Club counted 292,560 Canadians in 2021, a slight increase of 4,160 people due to population growth. Of these, 73.9% are men, while only 26.1% of the 1% club is made up of women.
To reach the even more elite level of the top 0.1% of income earners, a Canadian had to earn almost $2.1 million. For the richest 0.01%, a very select club that includes fewer than 3,000 Canadians, that amount amounts to over $7.7 million.
Minority Quebecers
Of the 292,000 Canadians in the 1%, there are only 52,010 Quebecers, a little less than 18% of the total, even though Quebec accounts for 22% of the country’s population.
Alberta (42,275 rich) and British Columbia (42,870 rich) have similar numbers of members of the 1% club as Quebec, despite having only half the population. Ontario has more than twice as many (133,215) as the province of La Belle.
inequality
Data released Friday also suggests increasing inequality in Canada. Members of the 1% club alone reported 10.4% of the country’s income.
“This is an increase of 9.4% in 2020 and the highest recorded since 2015,” Statistics Canada noted.
On average, Canadians reported income of $55,900 in 2021, an amount more than ten times less than the minimum income for membership in the 1 percent club.
Half of Canadian earners in the bottom 50% of income settled for an average income of $21,100.