Territories Have Highest After-Tax Incomes in Canada: StatCan

General view of Iqaluit, Nunavut, on Oct. 8, 2019. (Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

Canada’s territories have the highest median after-tax income in the country, yet the region continues to see rising poverty and food insecurity rates, according to Statistics Canada.

Residents living in the territories—including the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon—had a median after-tax income of $89,500 in 2022, yet the poverty rate came in at 24.2 percent, and 36.4 percent of households had some form of food insecurity, according to Statistics Canada figures.

Despite the higher-than-average median income in the territories, the poverty rate has risen 4 percent since 2021 while food insecurity rates increased 10 percent.

“Higher prices of goods and services may have been important contributors to higher poverty and food insecurity levels,” StatCan said.

Median Incomes

The Northwest Territories has the highest median after-tax income in the country, coming in at $30,000 above the Canadian average, according to the newly released government stats.

The median Northwest Territories income came in at $100,500 after taxes in 2022, well above the median Canadian income of $70,500.

Nunavut and the Yukon also boasted higher median after-tax incomes, coming in at $86,200 and $84,500, respectively.

“Residents in the territorial capitals typically have higher incomes than those living outside the capital,” StatCan said in its report. “The median after-tax income of families and unattached individuals in 2022 was $108,300 in Yellowknife, while it was $104,300 in Iqaluit and $86,700 in Whitehorse.”

The results were drawn from the Canadian Income Survey and exclude households in remote areas with low population density, according to StatCan. Survey coverage accounts for 96 percent of the population for the Northwest Territories, 94 percent for Yukon, and 93 percent for Nunavut.

Poverty Rates

Despite the higher-than-average median income in all three territories, poverty and food instability are issues of note, particularly in Nunavut.

The poverty rate was highest in Nunavut at 44.5 percent, accounting for 16,700 people, followed by the Northwest Territories at 17.1 percent, or 7,300 people, according to StatCan’s 2022 numbers. In Yukon, the poverty rate was 12.9 percent, affecting roughly 5,200 people.

The share of people in households with marginal, moderate, or severe food insecurity was 36.4 percent in 2022, a 10 percent increase above 2021’s rate of 26.4 percent.

Food-insecurity rates were significantly higher in Nunavut at 62.6 percent compared to 27.6 percent in the Northwest Territories, and 21.4 percent in the Yukon.

Nunavut was the only territory with a markedly higher food-insecurity rate than the Canadian average of 22.9 percent.

Incomes Over the Years

The territories have long had higher median after-tax income than the rest of the country. StatCan figures show that trend has been in existence since at least 2005. Another trend captured by StatCan stats is a dip in after-tax income levels between 2020 and 2022.

The Northwest Territories median after-tax income has grown considerably since 2005 when it sat at $86,000, but it hasn’t grown much since 2010 when it was $100,000, according to StatCan numbers. The median was $108,000 in 2015 and $109,000 in 2020, indicating an $8,500 decline just two years later.

It was the same story in Yukon, with median after-tax income shooting up considerably since 2005, but falling back slightly from 2020 figures. StatCan lists Yukon’s median after-tax income as $67,500 in 2005, $79,000 in 2010, and $80,000 in 2015. The median came in at $88,000 in 2020, nearly $4,000 more than 2022’s number.

The trend continued in Nunavut with median after-tax income of $68,000 in 2005, $86,000 in 2010 and $93,000 in 2015, according to StatCan figures. It hit $104,000 in 2020 and tumbled just shy of $18,000 by 2022.

While Canada’s median after-tax income rates were lower than the numbers recorded for the territories, it too experienced the same trend with income rising steadily and then falling backward. The median came in at $59,600 in 2005, $63,600 in 2010, and $66,500 in 2015. By 2020, the median had hit $73,000—a full $2,500 more than 2022’s number.