What is the average net worth in Canada?

The figure that best answers this is $519,700 — the median household net worth (Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023, released October 29, 2024). 'Median' means half of all Canadian households are worth more and half are worth less, so it captures the typical household. The literal average (mean) is considerably higher, because a small number of very wealthy families pull it upward; Statistics Canada and economists report the median for exactly this reason. So when people ask for the 'average net worth,' $519,700 is the honest number to use.

Colloquially 'average' means the mean, but for net worth the mean is misleading. Net worth has no upper limit (the wealthiest households hold tens of millions) yet cannot fall far below zero, so the distribution is heavily right-skewed. A handful of very rich households drag the mean far above where a typical household sits, while the median — the true midpoint — is unaffected. The mean can run roughly 1.7×–3× the median for a given age band. That gap is why headlines quoting the 'average' make ordinary households feel behind when they are not, and why the $519,700 median is the fairer benchmark.

By age of the main income earner, the SFS 2023 median net worth is: Under 35 — $159,100; 35–44 — $409,300; 45–54 — $675,800; 55–64 — $873,400; 65+ — $738,900. Net worth builds steadily through the working years and peaks around 55–64 as mortgages are paid down and investments compound, then eases slightly in retirement as households draw on savings. Because the typical figure more than quintuples from under-35 to 55–64, comparing yourself to the all-ages number is misleading — always benchmark against your own age band. (Mean-by-age figures are modelled estimates; StatCan publishes the median by age.)

A $500,000 household net worth sits just below the national median of $519,700, so it is roughly middle-of-the-pack across all Canadian households — but 'good' depends heavily on age. For a household under 35 it is well above that group's $159,100 median; for a 45–54 household ($675,800 median) it is somewhat below; for a 55–64 household ($873,400 median) it is well below. Use your age-group median rather than the overall figure to judge whether you are ahead or behind.

British Columbia has the highest median household net worth at $773,500 — about 49% above the national median — driven by Vancouver real estate. Ontario is second at $665,600 (GTA real estate and Bay Street) and Alberta third at $457,100, helped by high incomes and no provincial income tax. New Brunswick is the lowest of the ten provinces at $286,200. The spread from top to bottom province is almost entirely a housing-market story rather than an income one.

Canada's median household net worth rose to $519,700 in 2023, up about 36% from $381,100 in 2019 (Statistics Canada SFS), led largely by home-price gains during 2020–2022. The youngest households saw the biggest percentage jump — family units under 35 climbed to a $159,100 median. Because so much of the increase is home equity rather than liquid savings, the gap between households that own property and those that rent has widened across every age group, and the 'average' has become increasingly shaped by real estate.

Yes. Statistics Canada's SFS counts the principal residence at market value (less the outstanding mortgage), registered accounts — RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, RESP, RRIF — and employer pension plan values, alongside other investments and assets, minus all debts. For most Canadian households the home and the workplace pension are the two largest components. 'Investable net worth' — the figure planners use for retirement readiness — excludes the home and is typically far smaller than the total net worth reported in the SFS.