Households by Income Bracket

Definition:

Percent of households with after-tax household income by income bracket.

Methods and Limitations:

Statistics Canada defines a household as a person or a group of persons who live in the same residence (Statistics Canada, 2010). It includes a single family, two or more families, a group of unrelated people, or a person living alone. Household income combines all of their incomes without deducting taxes or other expenditures.

After-tax income – After-tax income refers to total income less income taxes of the statistical unit during a specified reference period. Income taxes refers to the sum of federal income taxes, provincial and territorial income taxes, less abatement where applicable. Provincial and territorial income taxes include health care premiums in certain jurisdictions. Abatement reduces the federal income taxes payable by persons residing in Quebec or in certain self-governing Yukon First Nation settlement lands.

For the 2021 Census, government transfers include benefits from temporary federal, provincial and territorial government income programs intended to provide financial support to individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health measures implemented to minimize the spread of the virus (Census 2021 Metadata – Footnote 10 and 26). This financial support is accounted for in 2020 individual and household incomes.

COVID-10 benefits helped to offset losses in employment income among low wage earners, accelerate growth in household after-tax income, particularly among families with children, and reduce income inequality and the low-income rate. These impacts are not expected to continue in 2021 and 2022.

For more information, see Statistics Canada’s Pandemic Benefits Cushion Losses and Narrow Income Inequality

For the 2021 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2020 for all income variables.

For the 2016 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2015 for all income variables.

For the 2011 Census, the reference period is the calendar year 2010 for all income variables.

Source:

Statistics Canada. 2022. (table). Census Profile. 2021 Census of Population. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released September 21, 2022.

Statistics Canada. 2017. Canada [Country] and Canada [Country] (table). Census Profile. 2016 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Ottawa. Released November 29, 2017.

Statistics Canada. 2013. Canada (Code 01) (table). National Household Survey (NHS) Profile. 2011 National Household Survey. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-004-XWE. Ottawa. Released September 11, 2013.

Data is updated on Vital Victoria as it becomes available from the data providers.

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Households by Income Bracket in the Sustainable Development Goals

Click on the SDG to reveal more information

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.90 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.

Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.

Related Households by Income Bracket Targets

1.2

By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions