Economic family status - Refers to the classification of the population according to whether or not the persons are members of an economic family.

Economic family persons refer to two or more household members who are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law or adoption, and thereby constitute an economic family.
They can be further classified as follows:

Economic family reference persons - In each economic family, one person is designated as the reference person. For purposes of presentation of historically comparable low-income statistics, the following designations have been made. The male spouse or partner is designated as the reference person in opposite-sex couple families. In lone-parent families, the male or female lone parent is the reference person. In same-sex couple families, the first person in the couple listed on the questionnaire is the economic family reference person. In all other economic families, the reference person can be either a male or female person not in a census family.

Economic family members - Persons other than the reference person (as described above) who belong to the same economic family are classified as female spouses or partners, male or female same-sex spouses or partners, never-married sons or daughters, other sons or daughters or other economic family members. For 2006, other economic family members include foster children. They were previously classified as persons not in economic families.

Persons not in economic families - Household members who do not belong to an economic family. Persons living alone are included in this category.

Economic family total income - The total income of an economic family is the sum of the total incomes of all members of that family.

'Total income' refers to the total money income received from the following sources during calendar year 2005 by persons 15 years of age and over:

- wages and salaries (total)
- net farm income
- net non-farm income from unincorporated business and/or professional practice
- child benefits
- Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement
- benefits from Canada or Quebec Pension Plan
- benefits from Employment Insurance
- other income from government sources
- dividends, interest on bonds, deposits and savings certificates, and other investment income
- retirement pensions, superannuation and annuities, including those from RRSPs and RRIFs
- other money income.

After-tax income of economic families - The after-tax income of an economic family is the sum of the after-tax incomes of all members of that family. After-tax income of family members or persons not in families refers to total income from all sources minus federal, provincial and territorial income taxes paid for 2005.

Receipts not counted as income - The income concept excludes gambling gains and losses, lottery prizes, money inherited during the year in a lump sum, capital gains or losses, receipts from the sale of property, income tax refunds, loan payments received, lump-sum settlements of insurance policies, rebates received on property taxes, refunds of pension contributions as well as all income 'in kind,' such as free meals and living accommodations, or agricultural products produced and consumed on the farm.

Average income of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families, and households - Average income of families (census/economic) or persons 15 years of age and over not in families or households refers to the weighted mean total income of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families, or households in 2005. Average income is calculated from unrounded data by dividing the aggregate income of a specified group of families (for example, husband-wife families with working wives) or persons 15 years of age and over not in families or households (for example, two-person households) by the number of families, persons not in families, or households in that respective group, whether or not they reported income.

Median income of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families, and households - The median income of a specified group of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families, or households is that amount which divides their income size distribution, ranked by size of income, into two halves. That is, the incomes of the first half of the families, persons 15 years of age and over not in families, or households are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median. Median incomes of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families, or households are normally calculated for all units in the specified group, whether or not they reported income.

Standard error of average income - Refers to the estimated standard error of average income for an income size distribution. If interpreted as shown below, it serves as a rough indicator of the precision of the corresponding estimate of average income. For about 68% of the samples which could be selected from the sample frame, the difference between the sample estimate of average income and the corresponding figure based on complete enumeration would be less than one standard error. For about 95% of the possible samples, the difference would be less than two standard errors and, in about 99% of the samples, the difference would be less than approximately two and a half standard errors.

The above concept and procedures also apply in the calculation of these statistics on the after-tax income of families (census/economic), persons 15 years of age and over not in families and households.