In the beginning of 2025, income inequality record high, statistics Canada says

Statistics Canada said on Wednesday that the difference between the country’s highest and lowest -income houses reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025.

The agency said that the difference in disposable income part between homes in the top 40 percent of the income distribution increased and below 40 percent to 49 percent marks in the first three months of the year.

Catherine Scott said, “This is not surprising.”

Scott stated that the current economic uncertainty is “contributing to a much more economic crisis,” especially for the youth seeking employment.

Statistics Canada said that the measurement has increased every year after the introduction of Kovid -19 epidemic.

For the first quarter of 2025, it was stated that the growth occurred as the highest -income houses derived from investment, while the lowest -income houses saw a decline in wages.

Scott said that at the high end of the income scale, many individuals did not see their income declining during the epidemic, in which many lived in their jobs.

Scott said, “But even more importantly, they were in a position to take advantage of the huge run-ups of investment markets at that time.”

Disposable income gap wide

People below 20 percent of income distribution saw the weakest growth in disposable income compared to 3.2 percent compared to a year ago, as their average wages were reduced by 0.7 percent.

Even the lowest income houses saw the biggest decline in net investment income as their earnings fell 35.3 percent, while net transfer increased by 31.2 percent, including an increase in government support measures.

The average disposable income for those in the top 20 percent of income distribution increased at the fastest speed of any income group as they benefited from an increase of 7.7 percent compared to a year ago.

Average wages in the highest income houses saw an increase of 4.7 percent and an increase of 7.4 percent in investment income.

Statistics Canada said that the gap of funds also increased as the top 20 percent of the money distribution had 64.7 percent of the total net wealth of Canadian people in the first quarter, $ 3.3 million per house.

The lower 40 percent of the money distribution was 3.3 percent of the total value, an average of $ 85,700 per house.

Scott said that after the recession of 2008-09, there was a “real discussion” about rising income inequality, which is not currently happening.

“Such information, the biggest gap ever, is a wake-up call. We cannot maintain it, we have to pay attention to the structure of our economy and its distribution,” he said.

“We have to develop a pie, but we have to talk about the distribution of pie. It matters that people are able to live a good quality of life with dignity. I think it is really an important public policy goal, which seems lost in the current conversation.”