By Stephanie Ip, Vancouver Sun |
People across B.C. experienced income growth between 2006 and 2015, according to Canada’s census, but this province slipped in its ranking against other provinces.
B.C.’s median household income in 2015 was $69,995, a 12.2 per cent increase from $62,372 in 2005, Statistics Canada said.
By Stephanie Ip, Vancouver Sun |
People across B.C. experienced income growth between 2006 and 2015, according to Canada’s census, but this province slipped in its ranking against other provinces.
B.C.’s median household income in 2015 was $69,995, a 12.2 per cent increase from $62,372 in 2005, Statistics Canada said.
Median is the level of at which half the population made more and half made less. B.C.’s income growth beat the national increase of 10.8 per cent, but the provincial median income remained lower than Canada’s overall $70,336.
And at $69,995, B.C. ranked only seventh among provinces and territories, down from sixth in 2006. B.C. was behind Ontario ($74,287), Saskatchewan ($75,512), Yukon ($84,521), Alberta ($93,835), Nunavut ($97,441) and Northwest Territories ($117,688).
“I think what it says for (B.C.) is that we have a very diversified economy,” said Bryan Yu, chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union. “We’re not going to see the massive wage cycles like you do in Alberta or other resource economies, and we’re also not going to see some of the downsides of some of the Atlantic provinces.”
Yu said the 2015 tax-year snapshot captured by the 2016 census misses some of the strong economic growth that Metro Vancouver has experienced recently that should contribute to better income growth in future years.