Investment income, 2015
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Released: 2017-02-24
The number of Canadian taxfilers reporting investment income was down in 2015, while the actual amount of investment income rose. Investment income refers to the sum of dividend income from taxable Canadian corporations and interest income from investments in non-tax-sheltered vehicles.
Nationally, just under 7.5 million taxfilers reported income from investments in 2015, down 2.4% from 2014. In the previous period (2013 to 2014), the number of taxfilers reporting investment income edged up 0.4%.
Similarly, the proportion of taxfilers reporting investment income also edged downward, from 29.6% of all taxfilers in 2014 to 28.6% in 2015.
In contrast, there was a significant increase in the amounts of investment income reported in 2015. Dividend income from taxable Canadian sources was primarily responsible for the increase.
Nationally, investment income increased by 18.2% to $81.6 billion (in constant dollars) in 2015. This follows a slight 0.4% increase in 2014, but parallels the strong market performance of dividend yielding stocks during 2015. Increases occurred for all provinces and territories, with the largest in the Northwest Territories (40.5%) and Alberta (34.0%) and the smallest in New Brunswick (2.2%).
Median investment income increased nationally, from $620 in 2014 to $660 in 2015 (in constant dollars). In other words, half of the taxfilers reporting investment income in 2015 reported more than $660, while the other half reported less than $660.
Taxfilers in Alberta reported the highest median investment income ($840), followed by those in British Columbia ($830) and Saskatchewan ($720). Taxfilers in Nunavut reported the lowest median investment income ($210), followed by Newfoundland and Labrador ($330) and the Northwest Territories ($340).
Among census metropolitan areas (CMAs), taxfilers in Victoria reported the highest median investment income ($1,100), followed by those in Kelowna ($1,070) and Calgary ($1,000). The lowest median investment income ($380) was reported in Saguenay, Quebec, and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Victoria was also the CMA with the highest proportion of taxfilers reporting investment income (36.9%), followed by those in Kelowna (35.8%) and Vancouver (35.4%).
Note to readers
For this release, investment income recipients are defined as taxfilers who either reported dividend income from taxable Canadian corporations or reported interest income. Income earned from investments held under the terms of registered retirement savings plans or registered income funds, for example, are excluded. Capital gains are also excluded.
In comparisons involving dollar amounts in this release, all figures for previous years have been adjusted for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
All data in this release have been tabulated according to the 2011 Standard Geographical Classification used for the 2011 Census.
A census metropolitan area (CMA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (also known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more must live in the core.
Products
The data on Canadian Investment Income (17C0008, various prices), Canadian Investors (17C0007, various prices), Canadian Savers (17C0009, various prices), Canadian Capital Gains (17C0012, various prices) and Canadian Taxfilers (17C0010, various prices) are now available for Canada, the provinces and territories, economic regions, census divisions, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, census tracts, and postal-based geographies. These custom services are available upon request. CANSIM tables for this release are available for Canada, province and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.
The following table is also available: CANSIM table 111-0041: Summary characteristics of Canadian taxfilers.
The technical reference guide "Investment Income, RRSP Contributions and Charitable Donations, T1 Family File, Preliminary Estimates " (72-211-X), presents information about the methodology, concepts and data quality for the data available in this release.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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