A new report from Statistics Canada, Average after-tax income of Canada families edges down in 2023, puts the average after-tax income of census families, and persons not in a census family, at $82,610 overall in 2023. The figure, a 0.1 per cent decrease, is little changed relative to 2022 numbers.
The composition of family income changed during the time period being studied, however. On average, employment income declined slightly, alongside government transfers. Consequently, average income taxes paid also declined during the period. At the same time, Bank of Canada decisions and stock market performance lead to increased dividend and interest income.
“Dividend and interest income rose from $5,960 to $6,780 (+13.8%), in part due to the successive increases in the Bank of Canada monthly rate in 2022 and 2023 (from 0.5% in January 2022 to 5.25% in December 2023) and to the performance of the stock market,” they write.
Although average incomes were flat between 2022 and 2023, families with at least one member over the age of 65 saw their incomes increase $2,220 to $71,950 in 2023. Statistics Canada says the main sources of income for these families were government transfers (32.8 per cent of income), private pensions (25.3 per cent), employment income (25.2 per cent and dividend and interest income (12.3 per cent).
