Steve MacLellan

OTTAWA – The incomes of Canada’s top one per cent grew at a faster pace than everyone else in 2017 – and, overall, they saw their taxes edge down, says a new study.

Statistics Canada has found that in 2017 the average total income of all tax-filers rose 2.5 per cent to $48,400 compared to the previous year. The average income growth of the bottom half of tax filers increased 2.4 per cent to $17,200.

But those in the top one per cent saw average income growth that year of 8.5 per cent to $477,700.
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And biggest surge in income growth was seen by those who made even more money.

Tax filers in Canada’s top 0.1 per cent, who made at least $740,300 in 2017, took home 17.2 per cent more income than in 2016. People in the top 0.01 per cent, who made $2.7 million or more, saw their incomes rise 27.2 per cent – making for the fourth-biggest annual increase in the last 35 years.