Top 1% lose share of Canada’s total wealth

By Special to MoneySense on November 18, 2014
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

The rich get poorer by comparison

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OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the wealthiest Canadians lost ground to the other 99 per cent. New data released by the agency says Canada’s top one-per-cent of earners saw their share of the country’s overall income drop to a six-year low in 2012. Statistics Canada found the super-rich held 10.3 per cent of total earnings in 2012 — a drop from the historical peak of 12.1 per cent in 2006. To qualify for the exclusive club, the agency says an individual’s 2012 income had to be at least $215,700. The report says Canada’s situation differs from the United States, where the top one-per-cent saw their income share rise over the same six-year period — from 18 to 19.3 per cent. The data also shows the percentage of Canadian women among the top one-per-cent earners in 2012 was nearly double what it was in 1982. The agency says women made up more than one-in-five of the ranks of Canada’s super-wealthy in 2012.