Looking to join Canada’s one-percent? Good luck, because the threshold is moving much faster than your incomes. New Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows incomes climbed in 2017. While incomes climbed across Canada, they’re climbing much faster at the top.

Canadians Need To Make Over $236,000 To Be In The “One-Percent”

The threshold to be considered one of the country’s wealthiest is rising very, very quickly. Canada’s one-percent earned over $236,000 per taxfiler in 2017, up 4.33% from the year before. Those in the 0.01% earned at least $740,300 in 2017, up 9.56% from the year before. To be in the 0.01%, a.k.a. the one-percent’s one-percent, the entry ticket was $2.7 million, up 22.06% from the year before. Income is accelerating much faster for those households that already have the most.

Canadian Income Threshold To Be A Top Earner

The minimum annual income a Canadian needs to earn to be considered a top earner.

Source: Statistics Canada, Better Dwelling.

How did your broke ass do? Not nearly as well. The bottom 99% saw the median income rise to $34,700 in 2017, up just 3.89% from the year before. To contrast, the one-percent’s one-percent had a median income of $4,137,200, up 24.36% over the same period.

Median Income of Top Earners In Canada

The median annual income of top earners in Canada, in contrast to the bottom 99%.

Source: Statistics Canada, Better Dwelling.

Over 92% of Canada’s “One-Percent” Lives In Just Four Provinces

There’s one-percent earners across Canada, but 92.1% live in just four provinces. Ontario had 120,580 one-percenters in 2017, up 0.43% from last year – the most in Canada. Alberta came in second with 52,205 earners, up 0.48% from last year. Quebec followed with 45,350 one-percenters, up 0.43% from the year before. British Columbia rounds out the group with 37,560 earners, up a massive 7.92% from the year before. Two of those provinces have notoriously high costs of living, so it’s expected. Quebec is only now starting to see the cost of living climb rapidly.

Canadian One-Percent Earners By Province

The number of income earners in the top one-percent of Canadian taxpayers, by location.

Source: Statistics Canada, Better Dwelling.

Manitoba and British Columbia See Largest Growth

The fastest growing regions for one-percent income earners were all in Western Canada. Manitoba made the biggest jump to 6,580 earners in 2017, up 10.77% from last year. British Columbia had the second biggest increase at 52,205 earners, up 7.92% higher than the year before. Alberta rounds out the top three for growth with 52,205 earners, up 0.48% from the year before.

Not all regions are seeing growth – in fact some are hemorrhaging one-percent earners. Newfoundland saw the biggest drop in one-percenters with 2,765 in 2017, down 8.44% from a year before. The Territories followed with just 615 filers, down 8.21% from a year before. Saskatchewan rounds out the losses with 5,380 one-percent earners, down 4.53% from last year.

Canadians are seeing incomes rise across the board, but much faster at the top. Even the country’s one-percent are being left behind by their one-percent. If you’re becoming suspicious that a lot of the country is being left behind, that’s because they are. And it’s happening very, very fast.

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