The richest people in Canada became wealthier during 2021, even as the bottom half of all taxpayers saw their income decrease by $1,400.

This is one of the key points from the new data analysis released by Statistics Canada today, Friday, examining tax returns from 2021 and comparing them to the previous year.

According to the data agency, the income of the top 1 percent of all taxpayers in Canada increased by 9.4 percent to $579,100 in 2021.

This figure includes all forms of taxable income, from salaries and bonuses to things like capital gains, dividends, and other payments recorded with the tax authorities.

The 10 percent wage increase for the top 1 percent of income contrasts with income moving in the opposite direction for many other Canadians.

Statistics Canada said in a statement today, “Applicants in the lower half of the income distribution saw their average total income fall by $1,400 from 2020 to $21,100 in 2021,” adding the agency said most of this decrease was due to reduction or ending of government programs in the pandemic era such as CERB and CEWS.

The report did not provide detailed data on income levels for the top 49 percent of income, or the average Canadian citizen, only those living in the lower and upper halves.

While the 1 percent received nearly a 10 percent wage increase, the smaller group above them did even better, with “depositors in the top 0.1 percent seeing their average total income increase by 17.4 percent to $2,086,100, while those in the top 0.01 percent saw their average total income increase by 25.7 percent to $7,731,400.”

The numbers released on Friday collectively show that the income share received by the richest 1 percent of Canadians became heavier during the years in question.

Statistics Canada stated that the top 1 percent received 10.4 percent of the total income earned by taxpayers that year, “up from 9.4 percent in 2020 and the highest level recorded since 2015.”

If there was any sector of society in which income distribution became more equitable during the year, it was the gender balance within the 1 percent.

The data agency reported that “Overall, women made up 26.1 percent of the top 1 percent of income taxpayers, up from 25.4 percent in 2020.” “The share of women in the top 1 percent bracket has steadily increased since the series began in 1982, when the proportion was 11.4 percent.”