The latest income survey from Statistics Canada, the Canadian Income Survey, 2023, shows that incomes are rising slightly in Canada, on average, after being adjusted for inflation: The median after-tax income of Canadian families and unattached individuals was $74,200 in 2023, a 1.2 per cent increase over the $73,300 reported in 2022.
Median government transfers declined from $10,500 in 2022 to $10,000 in 2023. Although this is the third consecutive year government transfers decreased, they remained higher in 2023 than in 2019 when the median government transfer was $9,400.
The report also notes increases in after-tax income for seniors. The median after-tax income was $79,700 for senior families, up 3.4 per cent from 2022. The median after-tax income for unattached seniors rose 4.3 per cent to $36,400.
By province, they say families and unattached individuals in Alberta and Ontario had the highest median after-tax income, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported the lowest median incomes. Among the territories, the Northwest Territories had the highest median after-tax income (also the highest median after tax income overall), followed by Nunavut and Yukon.
“The median after tax income for families and unattached individuals grew in Nova Scotia (3.5 per cent), Alberta (+2.9 per cent) and Ontario (+1.4 per cent) in 2023, while it declined in Saskatchewan (-2.8 per cent). It was relatively unchanged in the other provinces and territories,” they write.
