Average Income in Canada
What You Should Know
- The average Canadian salary in October 2023 as deduced from Labour Force Survey (LFS) was approximately $64,850 per year.
- According to the 2021 Canadian Income Survey (CIS), the average income in 2021 was $53,100, and the median income was $40,500.
- Among large Canadian cities, Calgary had the highest average income of $60,000, and Montreal had the highest median income of $41,600.
- Among populous Canadian provinces, Alberta offered the highest average and median income of $57,600 and $41,300.
- Toronto and Calgary can be ranked as having the highest and second-highest income inequality, while Quebec and Atlantic Canada are regions with the highest income equality.
Canada
Canada Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Since 1976, Statistics Canada has conducted a yearly income survey. The survey results provide a detailed picture of the job market for the whole country and its different regions. In May 2023, the data related to 2021 was released. Thus, we have over 45 years of data to provide us with a view of how Canada’s job market has changed over time.
We use only 5 data points for Canada, its most populous regions, provinces and cities, to gain insight into Canada's job market and income prospects of its residents.
Recent Average Employment Income in Canada
| Month | Average Weekly Hours Worked (Main Job) | Average Hourly Wage Rate ($) | Average Weekly Wage | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | 35.9 | 33.12 | $1,221 | $63,492 |
| July 2023 | 36.3 | 33.24 | $1,233 | $64,116 |
| August 2023 | 36.3 | 33.47 | $1,244 | $64,688 |
| September 2023 | 35.7 | 34.01 | $1,249 | $64,948 |
| October 2023 | 35.6 | 34.08 | $1,247 | $64,844 |
Sources: Labour Force Survey - Average usual and actual hours worked in a reference week by type of work and Employee wages by occupation, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality.
The problem with income survey is that its data are not up to date. Especially given historically large inflation and income growth, it is important to supplement our data from the income survey with up-to-date information. To this end we use data from the Labour Force Survey. We use average hourly wages and the average number of hours worked per week from the Labour Force Survey to calculate weekly income and annual salary. Annual salaries are calculated using the WOWA’s annual salary calculator.
Unlike the Income Survey, which provides information about income from all sources, the Labour Force Survey only gives information about employment income. As a result, the average incomes deduced from the Labour Force Survey and those from the income survey are not comparable. The income survey considers people whose income is solely from government transfers and investment income. This includes retirees and employment insurance recipients. As a result, the average income reported in the Income Survey is smaller than the average wage calculated from the Labour Force Survey data.
Income of Canadian Families Over the Years
It is also important to consider the median and average income earned by Canadian families. In this regard, every unattached individual is considered their own family.
| Year | Average After-Tax Income* (In 2021 $) | Median After-Tax Income* (In 2021 $) |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 78,600 | 63,900 |
| 2018 | 78,900 | 64,100 |
| 2019 | 79,400 | 64,500 |
| 2020 | 83,300 | 69,000 |
| 2021 | 83,100 | 68,400 |
*of families and unattached individuals Note: Values of average and median income are in 2021 dollars, meaning that the values from prior years are inflated proportionally to the CPI inflation. You can use WOWA’s inflation calculator to adjust them to today’s dollars. | ||
Source: Canadian Income Survey (2021)
The table below shows the change in the median income, market income, government transfers and income taxes for economic families and unattached individuals over the past decade.
| 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Total Income | $66,600 | $69,900 | $78,200 |
| Median Market Income | $55,600 | $57,300 | $61,700 |
| Median Government Transfers | $6,000 | $8,000 | $13,300 |
| Median Income Tax | $6,800 | $7,200 | $9,200 |
| Median After-Tax Income | $52,900 | $62,400 | $68,400 |
Source: Statistics Canada
Income in Canada
The average and median incomes in the table above are incomes that include the tax component. The after-tax income or net income is what an individual takes home after deducting the tax. The largest portion of net income in Canada comes from wages, while a sizable portion of income comes from government transfers and another sizable portion from investment returns. Statistics Canada considers the total income minus government transfers as market income.
Government transfers include Employment Insurance (EI), Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), Canada Child Benefit (CCB), Canada Greener Homes Grants and many other programs. You can use WOWA’s child benefit calculator to see how much support a family would receive for their children
Investment income includes rental income, interest income from savings accounts,Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) or bonds. Dividends received from corporations and capital gains from the stock market or real estate investments are other types of investment income.
Average Income
When we think about a job market, often the first metric which comes to mind is the average income. Average incomes are good indicators for comparing the affluence of different countries, different regions or different professions. Yet they are not a good indicator of a typical individual's earnings.
In each job market, a small portion of earners make large amounts of money, and their large incomes cause the average income to be much larger than the income of a typical individual. Therefore, to understand the typical income one might earn in that market, we should consider median incomes. The median income is the income of an individual who is making less than half of the workers while at the same time earning more than the other half of the workers.
Median Income
We can consider the ratio of median income over average income as a measure of income inequality. The closer this ratio gets to 1, the higher income equality, while the smaller this ratio becomes, the higher income inequality.
Income Equality
From the above graph, we can conclude that among the major Canadian cities, Montreal has the lowest income inequality, with a ratio of 0.79, and with a ratio of 0.67, Calgary has the highest income inequality.
Median Income (Excluding Zeroes) by Source
| 2011 (In 2021 $) | 2016 (In 2021 $) | 2021 (In 2021 $) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Income | $35,200 | $37,200 | $41,200 |
| Market Income | $33,800 | $35,400 | $37,200 |
| Employment Income | $35,400 | $36,800 | $39,500 |
| Wages, Salaries and Commission | $37,800 | $39,000 | $41,600 |
| Self-Employment Income | $9,200 | $8,800 | $5,100 |
| Investment Income | $700 | $800 | $800 |
| Retirement Income | $17,300 | $18,100 | $18,400 |
| Other Income | $1,000 | $1,200 | $2,100 |
| Government Transfers | $4,400 | $6,500 | $10,300 |
| OAS pension and GIS | $7,500 | $7,600 | $8,000 |
| Canada/Quebec Pension Plan benefits | $8,100 | $8,300 | $8,400 |
| Child benefits | $2,800 | $3,600 | $6,200 |
| Employment Insurance benefits | $5,800 | $6,300 | $9,500 |
| Social Assistance | $8,700 | $8,700 | $10,400 |
| COVID-19 Benefits | - | - | $1,200 |
| Other government transfers | $700 | $800 | $800 |
The median total income growth between from 2016 to 2021 was $4,000, double of the $2,000 growth from 2011 to 2016. There was also a significant increase in government transfers from 2011 to 2021. It is also interesting to note that self-employment income was notably lower in 2021 compared with 2016 or 2011.
Central Canada
Central Canada includes Canada’s most populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Ontario
Ontario Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Ontario
Toronto
Toronto Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Toronto
Quebec
Quebec Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Quebec
Montreal
Montreal Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Montreal
West Coast
British Columbia
British Columbia Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in British Columbia
Vancouver
Vancouver Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Vancouver
Prairie Region
Prairie Provinces Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Prairie Provinces
Alberta
Alberta Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Alberta
Calgary
Calgary Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Calgary
Atlantic Region
Atlantic Provinces Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Atlantic Provinces
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Job Market's Main Attributes
| Year | Over 16 Population (In thousands) | People with Income (In thousands) | Average Income (In $) | Median Income (In $) |
|---|
Income in Nova Scotia
Canadian Territories
Among the territories, families and unattached individuals had a median after-tax income of $96,600 in Northwest Territories, $84,400 in Nunavut and $77,800 in Yukon. The median after-tax income of all families and unattached individuals living in territories was $85,300. While these numbers are higher than the median after-tax income of $68,400 in Canada, it was also reported that about one in five people living in the territories were below the poverty line.