Income inequality in Canada barely moved over four decades
The findings form part of an essay titled Definition of Income Matters for Measuring Income Inequality, published as part of a broader Fraser Institute series examining poverty and income distribution in Canada.
How you measure matters
The report draws a sharp distinction between raw employment income and income that has been adjusted for government redistribution.
In 2022, the top 10 per cent of Canadian families received 32.1 per cent of all employment income, a figure that falls to 23.2 per cent once federal and provincial transfers, progressive taxation, and differences in family size are applied.
When looking at employment income alone, the top 10 per cent’s share increased by 17.3 per cent between 1982 and 2022. After adjustments, that figure drops to the 3.6 per cent headline result, underscoring just how much methodology shapes the conclusions researchers and policymakers draw about inequality.
This measurement debate is not new to Canadian financial professionals. As previous Fraser Institute research found, top earners in Canada already shoulder a disproportionate share of the country’s tax burden; a context the institute argues is frequently overlooked in public discussions about redistribution.
