Net worth has become rather important in today’s world.

After all:

We just love learning about, say, Wayne Gretzky’s or Ryan Reynolds’ net worth.

But it’s not so simple.

The thing is:

Net worth is in fact a complex statistic that can be calculated in different ways. And it’s more of an estimate than an accurate depiction of someone’s wealth. We can describe it simply as the difference between a family’s debts and assets.

To get a clearer picture, we decided to take a deep dive into the latest Canadian net worth statistics. We’ll see just how much a typical Canadian “weighs,” which is, as you may presume, a lot, considering that Canada regularly tops the “best countries to live in” lists.

Canada net worth statistics are also pretty detailed and reliable, so there’s really a lot to talk about.

Let’s get straight to the point:

2024 Updates:

Crucial Canadian Net Worth Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

• Half of all Canadians have a net worth above $329,900, according to 2019 stats.
• All Canadian families combined own around $11 trillion in various assets like houses, cars, and pension plans.
• Lone-parent families have the least amount of wealth, with a median net worth of $83,100.
• People aged 55 to 64 are the wealthiest in Canada, with a whopping median net worth of $690,000.
• Ontario has the wealthiest households – half of all families own more than $434,500 in assets.
• The total net worth of all Ontarians is around $5 trillion.
• Media magnate and hereditary peer David Thomson is one of the richest Ontarians, with a net worth of $54 billion.
• The top 1% of richest people in Canada “weigh” more than $9 million each.

General Canadian Net Worth Statistics

Over the past few years, Canadians have seen substantial growth in net worth. Let’s take a look at some of the most recent numbers:

1. Median net worth in Canada was $329,900 in 2019.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

The most recent official stats come from 2019, so we have to be careful when generalizing the conclusions. As we all know, COVID-19 severely disrupted the global economy and has drastically reduced the incomes of billions of people worldwide – and the Great White North is no exception. 

That being said:

Median net worth is a much better statistic compared to average Canadian net worth. Taking the average is a logical choice when the distribution of the averaged variable is normal. 

Unfortunately, net worth is not normally distributed, even in a country like Canada. So, quite often, we have a lot of people with low to medium net worth and very few people with astronomical net worth. 

And the thing is:

These few lucky individuals skew the average so that the average net worth is rather high. The median, on the other hand, is a better measure for net worth because it simply gives us a value above and below which there’s half of the population.

In other words, half of Canadians have a net worth below and above $329,900. 

2. Canadians’ net worth grew at a pace of 1.8% per year between 2016 and 2019.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

The growth rate actually slowed down from the previous period. More specifically, between 2012 and 2016, the wealth of Canadians increased at a considerably faster pace of 3.5% per year. Note that these stats are calculated for Canadian families, not per individual.

3. The median net worth of Canadian families was 329,900 in 2019.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

According to official Canadian net worth statistics, the rise in net worth was slower from 2016-2019 as opposed to earlier in the decade. Namely, the net worth of Canadian families grew 1.8% per year from 2016 to 2019. Contrastingly, net worth increased 3.5% per year from 2012 to 2016.

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Canadian Net Worth Distribution

Now that we’ve covered some general stats, our next section will provide some interesting numbers on Canadian net worth distribution. Read along to find out!

4. Residences are Canadians’ biggest assets.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

61.9% of Canadian families listed residence as their crucial assets, with a median value of $400,000. Residences, on the other hand, are also reasons for going into debt, with 35% of Canadian families listing mortgages as their biggest reasons for debt, with a median value of $180,000. Only 30% of Canadian families are debt-free. 

5. Employer-sponsored pension plans are Canadians’ next biggest asset, with a median value of $164,900.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

Here we can see why so many people want to move to Canada: 

Half of all Canadian families reported pension plans over $164,900! 

Considering that the median income per year in Canada is around $34,000, it’s obvious that Canadian employers take good care of their employers’ pensions.

6. Lone-parent families have one of the lowest net worths ($83,100).

(Source: Statistics Canada)

We all know how hard it is to be a lone parent. And this statistic nicely summarizes the struggles of lone parents. Even in Canada, their net worth is around four times the size of the total net worth median. 

Couples-only families are much wealthier ($459,400 median), which is also true for senior families ($840,900), couples with children under 18 ($435,700), and seniors ($322,300). 

7. Net worth by age Canada stats show that people aged 55 to 64 are the wealthiest ($690,000). 

(Source: Statistics Canada)

Note that these stats are still calculated for families. In the case of Canada net worth distribution by age, the primary income recipient in the family is aged 55 to 64. These families have the highest net worth. 

Next come families with major recipients aged: 

• Over 65 years ($543,200 median net worth)
• 45 to 54 ($521,100)
• 35 to 44 ($234,400)
• Under 35 ($48,000)

Once again, the average net worth by age in Canada is an interesting stat. But in fact, it doesn’t paint an accurate picture of wealth distribution in this country. 

From these stats, we can deduce that the average Canadian net worth at retirement is relatively high, possibly around $540,000, depending on the age of retirement.  

8. Ontario families are the wealthiest ($434,500).

(Source: Statistics Canada)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Ontario is one of the most urbanized provinces, with numerous white-collar employees who earn a lot. 

Next come:

• British Columbia ($423,700)
• Saskatchewan ($330,500)
• Alberta ($317,300)
• Manitoba ($295,700)
• Nova Scotia ($257,900)
• Newfoundland and Labrador ($247,300)
• Quebec ($237,800)
• Prince Edward Island ($211,400)
• New Brunswick ($185,000)

Key takeaway:

Median net worth incomes by province vary quite a lot. Click To Tweet

9. The total net worth of Ontario families is $5 trillion.

(Source: Statistics Canada)

This is just short of half the total net worth of all Canadian families. Interestingly enough, Quebec comes next with $2,09 trillion, followed by British Columbia ($2 trillion) and Alberta ($1.3 trillion). 

The rest goes like this:

• Saskatchewan – $367 billion
• Manitoba – $345 billion
• Nova Scotia – $237 billion
• New Brunswick – $132 billion
• Newfoundland and Labrador – $109 billion
• Prince Edward Island – $35 billion

We see that Quebec doesn’t really have a high median net worth. However, it’s still second in terms of total net worth. This is simply due to the fact that Quebec has the second-largest population of any Canadian province.

10. West Vancouver is the borough with the largest median net worth ($4,454,424) in Canada. 

(Source: MacLeans.ca)

This community is extremely wealthy, even though their incomes aren’t as high – probably due to the pricing of residences and land in this sought-after region of Vancouver. 

Here are other Canadian boroughs with extremely high net worth:

• Westmount – $3,653,100
• Rocky View County – $3,336,048
• Toronto’s King net worth – $2,792,290

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The Richest Families in Canada 

Canada is a home to many A-listers and wealthy families. Keep on reading to find out how much they are worth:

11. David Thomson ($54 billion), Galen Weston Jr. ($7.6 billion), and Michael Lee-Chin ($1 billion) are some of the richest people in Ontario.

(Source: CelebrityNetWorth)

David Thomson is the 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet. He’s a hereditary peer, media magnate, and businessman. His father, Kenneth Roy Thomson, was also wealthy and at the time the ninth-richest person in the world.

Next:

Galen Weston Jr. is the son of Galen Weston, a businessman who was at the head of a major Canadian food processing company. Galen Weston Jr. is also a businessman and a Harvard and Columbia alumni. 

Last but not least:

Michael Lee-Chin is the chairman of Portland Holdings Inc, an investment company based in Ontario. 

12. Emanuel Lino Saputo ($6.9 billion), the Desmarais family ($5.8 billion), and Alain Buchard ($5 billion) are the richest people in Quebec.

(Source: HardBacon)

Saputo has built an empire in cheese processing. Originally from Sicily, he picked up the craft of cheesemaking from his father. And he found a way to make billions from everyone’s favourite dairy product!

The Desmarais family has a long history in Ontario: 

First, they had a little bus company before several family members went on to gain influence and control in the Power Corporation of Canada. 

Buchard is at the helm of Alimentation Couche-Tard, Quebec’s most popular convenience store chain. 

13. The richest people in Vancouver are David Cheriton ($6.8 billion), Jim Pattison ($5.4 billion), and Bob Gaglardi ($2.7 billion).

(Source: Vancouver Is Awesome, DailyHive)

David Cheriton is an inspiring role model – computer scientist, mathematician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Jim Pattison is an investor making his influence in various Canadian branches of industry. Bob Gaglardi is the head of Northland Properties Corporation, which deals with hotels, restaurants, and sports teams. 

14. The top 1 percent net worth in Canada is around $9 million each.

(Source: KickAssEntrepreneur, MoneyEh) 

What is considered rich in Canada? 

Here’s the scoop:

People with more than $1 million can be considered rich in Canada, with 764,033 people or 2% of the population having between $1 and $5 million.

Next:

0.26% have between $5 and $30 million, which is considered very rich in Canada. There are 91,823 such people.

Finally, 10,395 Canadians are incredibly wealthy, possessing more than $30 million. 

You might be wondering:

How many millionaires are there in Canada? 

As of 2020, there were 1,681,969 millionaires in the Great White North. 

15. COVID-19 has increased the gap between the wealthy few and the rest, with the unemployment rate peaking at 13.7% in May 2020.

(Source: HuffPost)

At the same time, magnates like David Thomson have significantly increased their wealth since pre-COVID levels. Even in a country like Canada, with efficient social welfare plans and a strong economy, economic inequality has increased since the start of the pandemic. 

16. Around 10% of Canadians live in poverty.

(Source: Statistics Canada, CWP-CSP)

There are many ways to measure poverty. So, Canadian statisticians take a lot of factors into consideration, such as food insecurity, income inequality, access to healthcare, literacy, and so on.

Altogether, estimates suggest around 5% of Canadians live in deep poverty.

Now:

It’s safe to say that the poorest 10% in Canada have few to no assets and are usually in severe debt. 

Here are low income cut-off points for families of various sizes:

• 1 person – $26,426
• 2 persons – $32,898
• 3 persons – $40,444
• 4 persons – $49,106
• 5 persons – $55,694
• 6 persons – $62,814
• 7 persons – $69,934

Families below these threshold points are considered to be living in poverty. 

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Final Thoughts

As we can see, people in the Canadian net worth top percentile are very rich, similar to people in other developed countries like the US, UK, or Japan. Canada actually has 3% of all global millionaires. Considering that Canada’s population is only 0.48% of the world’s total, we can see just how much wealth is concentrated in the Great White North.

Bear in mind:

Some of these Canadian net worth statistics have to be taken with a pinch of salt – especially those concerning Canada’s richest families. These stats tend to vary quite a lot, as some people get richer, others less so, while yet others are trying their best to hide their assets’ value.