Earnings and Incomes of Canadians Over the Past Quarter Century, 2006 Census: Findings

• Highlights
  • Earnings
    • 1980 to 2005
    • 2000 to 2005
  • Family earnings
  • Incomes of families
• Introduction
• Earnings
  • Overall trends
    • Little change in earnings during the past quarter century
    • High earners: More than half a million individuals earned $100,000 or more
    • Substantial differences in earnings growth across provinces and territories during the past quarter century
    • Occupations: Substantial increase in earnings in oil and gas and resource areas since 2000
    • Higher education: Gateway to higher earnings
  • The gender gap
    • Earnings ratio between young men and women unchanged since 2000
    • Among new entrants, gender gap in earnings smaller for highly educated workers
  • Immigrants
    • Gap in earnings widens between recent immigrants and Canadian-born workers
    • The information and communication technologies (ICT) sector played a key role for recent immigrant earners
    • Earnings gap between recent immigrants and Canadian-born larger among university graduates
    • More immigrants complete their education in Canada as they stay longer
• Family earnings
  • Median family earnings on the upswing
  • Greater inequality in family earnings
  • Rising share of families with two full-time full-year earners
• Incomes of families
  • Overall trends
    • More economic families, moderate increase in income
    • Largest growth in median income in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the North
    • Median income rises faster for people living on their own, outside of economic families
    • Among people living on their own, Albertans had the highest growth in median income
  • Family types
    • Couples with children on top rung of income ladder
    • Income gap shrinking slightly between lone-parent mothers and fathers
    • For people living on their own, trends in median income varied widely across the age spectrum
  • Sources of income
    • Earnings account for four-fifths of income
    • Share of income from government transfers down in most provinces and territories
    • Employer pensions and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) drive income increases for seniors
    • Earnings growth, shifting benefits for single mothers
    • Earnings still key for recent immigrants
    • Income sources relatively stable for most couples
  • After-tax income
    • After-tax income: First-time data from the census
  • Low income
    • Census low income rates based on after-tax income for the first time
    • Low income rate much higher for recent immigrants
    • Long-term low income trends
  • Census metropolitan areas
    • Median family income highest in Calgary, Oshawa and Ottawa - Gatineau

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