Canada's Income Gap Widens

Canada's Income Gap Widens
The income gap between rich and poor in Canada widened in the period from 1993 to 2009, the Conference Board of Canada reported Wednesday. The richest Canadians increased their share of total national income while the poor and those with middle incomes saw their portions shrink, according to the board's analysis, entitled "How Canada Performs." Incomes of the poor increased marginally in the period, it said, but the gap between rich and poor widened. The average income of the poorest Canadians rose from $12,400 in 1976 to $14,500 in 2009....The average income in 1976 was $51,100. By 2009, it had increased by 17 per cent to $59,700, even after adjusting for inflation.But using the measure of median income, which divides the sample into two equal parts and better reflects how the majority of people are doing, the growth was only 5.5 per cent.