How does your net worth compare to your city?

Statistics Canada's latest city-level survey (Survey of Financial Security 2023, Table 11-10-0049-01, released 29 October 2024) puts Vancouver's median household net worth at $1,008,200 and its average at $1,509,100; Toronto's median is $743,000 and its average $1,349,600. The average sits well above the median in both cities because a small number of very wealthy households pull the mean up — the median is the better yardstick for a typical family. These are the most recent published figures; the next survey (2026 reference year) is expected around 2027-28.

Vancouver — $1,008,200 median household net worth in Statistics Canada's SFS 2023, the first Canadian census metropolitan area with a median above $1 million. Toronto is second at $743,000 and Ottawa–Gatineau third at $668,100. The driver is real estate: Vancouver-area homeowners carry decades of appreciation that compounded through the 2020–2022 housing boom, and net worth includes the principal residence at market value less the mortgage.

Two main reasons. First, home ownership rates in Montreal are lower than in Toronto — more renters means more households with no real estate equity, which is the largest single asset in most Canadian net worth measurements. Second, Montreal home prices, while rising, are still meaningfully lower than Toronto, so even owner households have less equity. SFS 2023 puts Montréal at $368,800 against Toronto's $743,000 — Toronto's median is roughly double. Montréal did close some ground: its median rose 45% in real terms between 2019 and 2023 (Statistics Canada restates 2019 in 2023 dollars), against 37% for Toronto, and it now sits just below Quebec's provincial median of $371,000.

The latest published national median is $519,700 from the Statistics Canada Survey of Financial Security 2023 (released October 29, 2024). This is up substantially from the pre-pandemic figure ($329,900 in 2019 per SFS 2019). The increase was driven primarily by real estate appreciation between 2019 and 2023; the pandemic-era housing boom alone added roughly $200K to median Canadian household net worth.

Yes. Statistics Canada's net worth measurement includes the principal residence at its market value (less any mortgage). For cities with expensive real estate like Vancouver and Toronto, the principal residence often accounts for the majority of a household's total net worth. SFS 2023 shows that for under-35 family units, median net worth WITH a principal residence is $457,100 vs $44,000 WITHOUT — a 10× gap. Excluding home equity gives a very different picture of household financial security.

They are from the Survey of Financial Security 2023 (reference year 2023, released 29 October 2024), the latest city-level data Statistics Canada publishes. Statistics Canada restates the 2019 survey in 2023 dollars, so the change is real, net of inflation: Vancouver +67% ($602,400 to $1,008,200), Ottawa–Gatineau +66%, Montréal +45%, Toronto +37%, Calgary +36%, Edmonton +21%, Winnipeg +9%, and Québec City −2% — the only one of the eight to fall. Nationally the median rose 36% in real terms, from $381,100 to $519,700.

The median is the middle household — half of all households have less, half more. The mean (average) is the total divided by household count. Because a small number of very wealthy households pull the average up, the mean is always materially higher than the median. For Canada in 2023, the median was $519,700 but the mean was over $1.2 million. For a typical 'where do I stand' comparison, the median is the more meaningful benchmark.

Calculate your total assets (cash, investments, home market value, vehicles, business equity) and subtract your total liabilities (mortgage, credit cards, lines of credit, car loans, student loans). The remainder is your household net worth. Compare that against the city or province median figures on this page. For more detail by age cohort, see our /ca/average-net-worth-by-age page which combines age and provincial data into a percentile finder.