Disparities in Canada’s wealthiest based on age not policies: expert

By Joshua Santos
Updated: October 09, 2025 

The Fraser Institute reports residents 60 to 64 had a net worth peaking at $1.17 million in 2019 while people under 30, had less than $150,000. (AndreyPopov/Getty Images)

Differences in wealth inequality are primarily due to age rather than policy and talent according to a new study published Thursday.

A Fraser Institute report said there has been little change in wealth disparity in the past five decades. According to Statistics Canada data, 77 per cent of households in the top 20 percentile of wealth consisted of Canadians 50 years of age or over while 64.8 per cent of households in the bottom 20 percentile were under 50 years of age.

“It’s a natural phenomenon,” said Christopher Sarlo, professor of economics at Nipissing University, senior at the Fraser Institute and author of the study. “Younger people accumulate debt, begin paying it down as they enter the workforce, then begin to accumulate wealth over time.”

The institute said the primary source for information about the assets and debts of Canadians is the Survey of Financial Security (SFS) conducted every three or four years by Statistics Canada.

The age pattern of average wealth holdings is found to be hill-shaped, the report states as older residents had decades to save and invest their funds. Residents 60 to 64 had a net worth peaking at $1.17 million in 2019 while people under 30 years of age had less than $150,000, accounting for gaps in net worth.


The institute however notes age, while a primary factor, does not explain everything. Demographic characteristics, such as dual-earning households and an aging population influences inequality over time.

The increase in the proportion of families that have two earners, almost doubled since the mid-1970s. Combined, the rise of dual-earner families is likely to increase wealth inequality.

“Wealth inequality is largely the outcome of millions of voluntary transactions in society, and for the vast majority of Canadians, wealth accumulates systematically over a lifetime,” said Sarlo.

The median age in Canada was 26 in 1971, while in 2024, it was 40. Over that period, the proportion of the population over 65 years of age has more than doubled.

Researchers state Statistics Canada’s data excludes other kinds of wealth such as the present value of public retirement programs, such as pensions that, if included, are likely to show wealth inequality declining.

As a result, they said it is not possible to conclude anything definitively about the level or change in wealth inequality in Canada.

Researchers argue much controversy about wealth inequality stems from failure to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate sources of wealth, particularly differences between ill-gotten gains from theft, fraud, corruption, cronyism and wealth produced from goods and services demanded by consumers.


Joshua SantosOpens in new window

Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca