To be considered part of the top 1% in 2014, a taxfiler must have earned a total income of at least $227,100. Over 268,500 Canadians were in this high-income group. The total average income of the top 1% has remained roughly stable, growing 0.4% from 2009 to 2014, while the average total income of all taxfilers grew 4.2%.

Alberta accounted for much of the increase in the nation's top 1% of taxfilers. Between 2013 and 2014, Alberta saw to an increase of more than 6,000 while Ontario fell by 1,900. However, Ontario has the largest share of  top 1% of taxfilers (39.9%) in 2014. Combined, Ontario and Alberta accounted for 65.5% of the country's top 1% of taxfilers, which was above their share of the country's total taxfilers at 49.1%.

The top 1% of taxfilers living in Ontario had the highest total income, making on average of $487,100 in 2014. They were followed by the top 1% in Alberta with $474,200. In contrast, the top 1% living in Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest total income, with an average of $367,500. 

Table 1. Top 1% of taxfilers, Canada, provinces and territories, 2013 and 2014 

Full article: High-income trends among Canadian taxfilers, 2014

For Taxfiler data in the Community Data Program Catalogue: Taxfiler tables using Data by Theme search