Canadian households are worth more than $1 million on average: How do you stack up?
Being worth a million dollars used to be the exception, but for Canadian households it is now just average — though it isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds. Data released by Statistics Canada in June showed that in the first quarter of 2024, average household net worth reached $1,009,483, an increase of about 2.5 per cent from a year ago and up nearly 28 per cent from the final quarter of 2019, the last full quarter before the pandemic. While total household wealth may be at a record, it isn’t the first time average wealth has passed the million-dollar threshold. For three quarters during the pandemic, when real estate values ballooned and savings rates soared, average household wealth also topped seven figures. Stock market gains have helped fuel the latest wave of wealth growth, contributing to inequality along the way.
Overall household wealth may be on the rise, but disparities remain along age and socio-economic lines. Canadian households in the 55-64 age bracket were the wealthiest in the first quarter, with average household net worth of $1,592,996. They were followed by those aged 45-54 at $1,342,851, the 65+ crowd at $1,121,020 and those aged 35-44 at $655,195. Households under age 35 were least wealthy with an average net worth of $336,348. A silver lining for young Canadians, though, is that they have seen their wealth increase the most since before the pandemic, up 42.5 per cent from $236,039.
From a generational perspective, the baby boomers narrowed the gap on generation X, which remains the wealthiest on average. Over the past year, boomer wealth surged by nearly nine per cent to $1,399,950 while gen X increased their wealth by only two per cent to $1,471,767. Millennials actually saw their wealth
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