Top 1% of tax filers saw incomes rise by almost 10% in 2021: Statistics Canada

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the country’s top one per cent of tax filers saw their incomes rise by almost 10 per cent in 2021, while those in the bottom half saw their average income decline.

The agency says the incomes of the top earnings group, excluding capital gains, jumped 9.4 per cent higher to $579,000.

Meanwhile, filers in the top 0.1 per cent saw their average income increase 17.4 per cent to almost $2.1 million and those in the top 0.01 per cent experienced an average income increase of 25.7 per cent, bringing their earnings to about $7.7 million.

At the same time, filers in the bottom half saw their average income fall by $1,400 to $21,100 in 2021 as the government ended many of its pandemic benefit programs.

Statistics Canada adds women made up roughly 26 per cent of the top one per cent of income tax filers, up from 25.4 per cent in 2020 and 11.4 per cent in 1982.

Its research also looked at money made from the sale of a home or other asset, finding 12.2 per cent of tax filers received capital gains, which had an average value of $37,600 in 2021. Average capital gains were $29,300 in 2020.