Albertans' income gains outpace country
Albertans' income gains outpace country
Census reveals religious ties on the wane
Michael Lau
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Albertans enjoyed the largest gain in median family income among Canadians in the decade ending in 2000, according to 2001 census figures released Tuesday.
But as they earn more, a growing number of Calgarians appear to be losing their religious affiliations, with Statistics Canada reporting one in four Calgarians -- or 219,755 of those surveyed -- declared themselves to have no religion, up from 22 per cent a decade earlier. Similarly, 24 per cent of Albertans declared no religion.
Nationally, the figure was 16 per cent, or 4.8 million Canadians -- a 44 per cent jump from 12 per cent a decade earlier -- and a dramatic shift from the pre-1971 days when fewer than one per cent of Canadians reported having no religion.
On the income front, the province led the nation with a 7.1 per cent increase in median income, from $56,140 in 1990 to $60,142 in 2000.
Nationally, the median income of Canadian families was essentially unchanged for the same period, after adjusting for inflation.
The median income was $55,016 in 2000 and $54,560 in 1990.
"It's quite a remarkable increase, especially when you consider Canada overall," said John Zhao, a StatsCan senior social science researcher.
"There may be quite a few factors, but I would certainly look at the strong economy in Alberta. That's probably the key," he said.
April Hensley can relate to the census findings. For the past 13 years, her income has moved in one direction -- up.
The executive assistant for a major oil and gas firm has seen her salary grow by at least three per cent per year since she joined the Calgary-based company in 1990.
"It's always gone up, never gone down. There's always chance for growth," said Hensley. "I think it's the industry I'm in. It pays its employees quite well and takes care of them quite well, as opposed to other sectors."
The report comes on the heels of an economic study that found the Calgary-Edmonton corridor -- home to one of the strongest economies in North America -- is also the richest area of Canada, rivalling U.S. cities in terms of wealth.
According to a TD Bank Financial Group report, the total value of goods and services produced in the region -- at $40,000 US per capita -- is 10 per cent above the average found in American urban centres. It is also 40 per cent higher than other Canadian cities.
"This shouldn't surprise us, because we've known that Alberta and Calgary have led national growth for the last several years. The economy's doing very, very well here," Frank Atkins, a University of Calgary economics professor, said of the StatsCan report.
Peter Hall of the Conference Board of Canada said on average Alberta's growth in gross domestic product has outpaced every other province over the past decade.
"There's obviously output growth and there are jobs associated with that. Times are good. You're going to have average incomes rising," said Hall, the board's associate director of economic forecasting.
"Certainly, if times are good in a relative sense, versus other areas you're competing with, that's going to be the prime indicator that's going to drive that. If you've got employment growth, you've got income growth, and you've likely got per-capita income growth as well."
Alberta is also attracting a younger average population of interprovincial migrants, Hall said. "The percentage of people over 65 relative to the total population in Alberta is lower than in any other province in the country. If you go onto a fixed income, your income obviously goes down substantially in those years if you're an average Canadian. Having a lower proportion of those is certainly going to boost your income numbers."
Nationally, incomes of families at the bottom half of the income distribution showed little or no improvement through the 1990s. On the other hand, the 10 per cent of Canadian families with the highest incomes experienced substantial gains.
In 2000, the combined income of the 10 per cent of Canadian families with the highest incomes accounted for 28 per cent of total family income, up from 26 per cent in 1990. The 10 per cent of families with the lowest incomes made up less than two per cent of all family income, similar to what was observed in 1990.
The report said Calgary's median income in 2000 of $65,488 was the fourth-highest among census metropolitan areas.
Top spot went to Ottawa-Hull, at $69,518; followed by Oshawa, $68,800; Windsor, $65,649; Calgary, $65,488; Toronto, $63,700; Kitchener, $63,477; Hamilton, $63,031; and Edmonton, $60,817.
Calgary's median income increased 6.6 per cent between 1990 and 2000, after adjusting for inflation.
Economist Richard Pauls said, in the last five years, Calgary has experienced strong job growth, and absorbed many migrants from other provinces while maintaining one of the country's lowest unemployment rates.
"All of those things are good indicators of strong, sustainable growth in this community, which points to that diversification we've been looking for," said Pauls, director of competitive intelligence for Calgary Economic Development.
The rise in median incomes has been good news for Calgary retailers of big-ticket items.
Sales at Jaguar of Calgary and Subaru of Calgary have more than tripled since 1990.
"There's definitely been a lot more high-income earners in Calgary over the last few years," said general manager Des Houston. "We're seeing the high-income earners come in and buy the $100,000 cars and the middle to upper are buying the less-expensive ones."
mlau@theherald.canwest.com
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Children, seniors and poverty
n The proportion of all children living in low-income families based on income before tax was virtually unchanged between 1990 and 2000, at around 18 per cent. In contrast, the proportion of all seniors aged 65 and older with low incomes declined from 20 per cent to 17 per cent over the past decade.
n In total, nearly 1,245,700 children in Canada were living in low income in 2000, a 3.5 per cent increase from a decade earlier. However, their numbers were below the total of approximately 1.3 million in 1980.
Source: Statistics Canada Census 2000
Top 10 denominations
Roman Catholic 12,793,125 43.2%
No religion 4,796,325 16.2
United Church 2,839,125 9.6
Anglican 2,035,495 6.9
Christian, other* 780,450 2.6
Baptist 729,475 2.5
Lutheran 606,590 2.0
Muslim 579,640 2.0
Protestant, other** 549,205 1.9
Presbyterian 409,830 1.4
*Includes persons who report Christian, as well as Apostolic, born-again Christian and Evangelical
**Includes persons who report only Protestant
- One in four Calgarians claim 'no religion' - Low-income seniors on decline - Child poverty numbers unchanged This story features factboxes"Children, seniors and poverty" and "Top 10 denominations"Also See: Seniors fight to get by on page A4 and Losing our religion on page A4.
Albertans' income gains outpace country
Census reveals religious ties on the wane
Michael Lau
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Albertans enjoyed the largest gain in median family income among Canadians in the decade ending in 2000, according to 2001 census figures released Tuesday.
But as they earn more, a growing number of Calgarians appear to be losing their religious affiliations, with Statistics Canada reporting one in four Calgarians -- or 219,755 of those surveyed -- declared themselves to have no religion, up from 22 per cent a decade earlier. Similarly, 24 per cent of Albertans declared no religion.
Nationally, the figure was 16 per cent, or 4.8 million Canadians -- a 44 per cent jump from 12 per cent a decade earlier -- and a dramatic shift from the pre-1971 days when fewer than one per cent of Canadians reported having no religion.
On the income front, the province led the nation with a 7.1 per cent increase in median income, from $56,140 in 1990 to $60,142 in 2000.
Nationally, the median income of Canadian families was essentially unchanged for the same period, after adjusting for inflation.
The median income was $55,016 in 2000 and $54,560 in 1990.
"It's quite a remarkable increase, especially when you consider Canada overall," said John Zhao, a StatsCan senior social science researcher.
"There may be quite a few factors, but I would certainly look at the strong economy in Alberta. That's probably the key," he said.
April Hensley can relate to the census findings. For the past 13 years, her income has moved in one direction -- up.
The executive assistant for a major oil and gas firm has seen her salary grow by at least three per cent per year since she joined the Calgary-based company in 1990.
"It's always gone up, never gone down. There's always chance for growth," said Hensley. "I think it's the industry I'm in. It pays its employees quite well and takes care of them quite well, as opposed to other sectors."
The report comes on the heels of an economic study that found the Calgary-Edmonton corridor -- home to one of the strongest economies in North America -- is also the richest area of Canada, rivalling U.S. cities in terms of wealth.
According to a TD Bank Financial Group report, the total value of goods and services produced in the region -- at $40,000 US per capita -- is 10 per cent above the average found in American urban centres. It is also 40 per cent higher than other Canadian cities.
"This shouldn't surprise us, because we've known that Alberta and Calgary have led national growth for the last several years. The economy's doing very, very well here," Frank Atkins, a University of Calgary economics professor, said of the StatsCan report.
Peter Hall of the Conference Board of Canada said on average Alberta's growth in gross domestic product has outpaced every other province over the past decade.
"There's obviously output growth and there are jobs associated with that. Times are good. You're going to have average incomes rising," said Hall, the board's associate director of economic forecasting.
"Certainly, if times are good in a relative sense, versus other areas you're competing with, that's going to be the prime indicator that's going to drive that. If you've got employment growth, you've got income growth, and you've likely got per-capita income growth as well."
Alberta is also attracting a younger average population of interprovincial migrants, Hall said. "The percentage of people over 65 relative to the total population in Alberta is lower than in any other province in the country. If you go onto a fixed income, your income obviously goes down substantially in those years if you're an average Canadian. Having a lower proportion of those is certainly going to boost your income numbers."
Nationally, incomes of families at the bottom half of the income distribution showed little or no improvement through the 1990s. On the other hand, the 10 per cent of Canadian families with the highest incomes experienced substantial gains.
In 2000, the combined income of the 10 per cent of Canadian families with the highest incomes accounted for 28 per cent of total family income, up from 26 per cent in 1990. The 10 per cent of families with the lowest incomes made up less than two per cent of all family income, similar to what was observed in 1990.
The report said Calgary's median income in 2000 of $65,488 was the fourth-highest among census metropolitan areas.
Top spot went to Ottawa-Hull, at $69,518; followed by Oshawa, $68,800; Windsor, $65,649; Calgary, $65,488; Toronto, $63,700; Kitchener, $63,477; Hamilton, $63,031; and Edmonton, $60,817.
Calgary's median income increased 6.6 per cent between 1990 and 2000, after adjusting for inflation.
Economist Richard Pauls said, in the last five years, Calgary has experienced strong job growth, and absorbed many migrants from other provinces while maintaining one of the country's lowest unemployment rates.
"All of those things are good indicators of strong, sustainable growth in this community, which points to that diversification we've been looking for," said Pauls, director of competitive intelligence for Calgary Economic Development.
The rise in median incomes has been good news for Calgary retailers of big-ticket items.
Sales at Jaguar of Calgary and Subaru of Calgary have more than tripled since 1990.
"There's definitely been a lot more high-income earners in Calgary over the last few years," said general manager Des Houston. "We're seeing the high-income earners come in and buy the $100,000 cars and the middle to upper are buying the less-expensive ones."
mlau@theherald.canwest.com
- - -
Children, seniors and poverty
n The proportion of all children living in low-income families based on income before tax was virtually unchanged between 1990 and 2000, at around 18 per cent. In contrast, the proportion of all seniors aged 65 and older with low incomes declined from 20 per cent to 17 per cent over the past decade.
n In total, nearly 1,245,700 children in Canada were living in low income in 2000, a 3.5 per cent increase from a decade earlier. However, their numbers were below the total of approximately 1.3 million in 1980.
Source: Statistics Canada Census 2000
Top 10 denominations
Roman Catholic 12,793,125 43.2%
No religion 4,796,325 16.2
United Church 2,839,125 9.6
Anglican 2,035,495 6.9
Christian, other* 780,450 2.6
Baptist 729,475 2.5
Lutheran 606,590 2.0
Muslim 579,640 2.0
Protestant, other** 549,205 1.9
Presbyterian 409,830 1.4
*Includes persons who report Christian, as well as Apostolic, born-again Christian and Evangelical
**Includes persons who report only Protestant
- One in four Calgarians claim 'no religion' - Low-income seniors on decline - Child poverty numbers unchanged This story features factboxes"Children, seniors and poverty" and "Top 10 denominations"Also See: Seniors fight to get by on page A4 and Losing our religion on page A4.
