StatCan says income and wealth gap grew wider in third quarter

Shoppers pass through Eaton Centre on Boxing Day in Toronto, on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

OTTAWA — The gap between the country’s highest earning and wealthiest households and those at the bottom end grew in the third quarter of last year as strong financial market gains benefited the rich.

Statistics Canada says the difference in the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent and the bottom 40 per cent of the income distribution rose to 47.5 percentage points in the third quarter of 2025 compared with 46.3 percentage points in the same quarter a year earlier.

The agency says those in the bottom 20 per cent saw their average disposable income in the quarter edge down 0.5 per cent compared with a year earlier and were the only group not to post an increase.

Meanwhile, the average disposable income for those in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution saw an increase of 4.3 per cent in disposable income compared with a year ago.

The report also noted that the wealth gap grew in the third quarter with those in the top 20 per cent of the wealth distribution holding 65.5 per cent of Canada’s total net worth averaging $3.5 million per household, while those in the bottom 40 per cent accounted for just 3.1 per cent of total net worth at an average of $82,100 per household.

It noted the gap was 62.4 percentage points in the third quarter of 2025, up 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.

The Canadian Press