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Earnings and Incomes of Canadians Over the Past Quarter Century, 2006 Census: Findings
- Highlights
- Introduction
- Earnings
- Overall trends
- Little change in earnings during the past quarter century
- High earners: More than half a million individuals earned $100,000 or more
- Substantial differences in earnings growth across provinces and territories during the past quarter century
- Occupations: Substantial increase in earnings in oil and gas and resource areas since 2000
- Higher education: Gateway to higher earnings
- The gender gap
- Earnings ratio between young men and women unchanged since 2000
- Among new entrants, gender gap in earnings smaller for highly educated workers
- Immigrants
- Gap in earnings widens between recent immigrants and Canadian-born workers
- The information and communication technologies (ICT) sector played a key role for recent immigrant earners
- Earnings gap between recent immigrants and Canadian-born larger among university graduates
- More immigrants complete their education in Canada as they stay longer
- Family earnings
- Median family earnings on the upswing
- Greater inequality in family earnings
- Rising share of families with two full-time full-year earners
- Incomes of families
- Overall trends
- More economic families, moderate increase in income
- Largest growth in median income in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the North
- Median income rises faster for people living on their own, outside of economic families
- Among people living on their own, Albertans had the highest growth in median income
- Family types
- Couples with children on top rung of income ladder
- Income gap shrinking slightly between lone-parent mothers and fathers
- For people living on their own, trends in median income varied widely across the age spectrum
- Sources of income
- Earnings account for four-fifths of income
- Share of income from government transfers down in most provinces and territories
- Employer pensions and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) drive income increases for seniors
- Earnings growth, shifting benefits for single mothers
- Earnings still key for recent immigrants
- Income sources relatively stable for most couples
- After-tax income
- Low income
- Census low income rates based on after-tax income for the first time
- Low income rate much higher for recent immigrants
- Long-term low income trends
- Census metropolitan areas
2006 Census supplementary navigation
About the analysis
- This article presents findings on the 2005 earnings and incomes of Canadians from the 2006 Census. Data from censuses back to 1981 further illustrate some of the demographic and economic trends that have affected household finances.
Links to other sources
- News release as reported in The Daily
- Definitions, data sources and methods: Record number 3901
- How to cite census products
Technical notes
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