Understanding how your net worth compares to other Canadians can offer useful context for financial planning, though it’s important to interpret these figures carefully. Here’s a breakdown of average net worth by age in Canada, based on the most recent data from Statistics Canada.
Understanding Average vs. Median Net Worth
Before diving into specific figures, it’s essential to understand the difference between average and median net worth. Canada’s overall average household net worth sits at roughly $995,900, while the median is considerably lower at $519,700, according to Statistics Canada’s Survey of Financial Security (SFS) 2023. This large gap exists because the average is skewed upward by a relatively small number of extremely wealthy households, while the median represents the figure at which half of all households have more and half have less — making it a more representative benchmark for a “typical” Canadian family.
What Counts as Net Worth
Statistics Canada measures family net worth (couples counted together, not as separate individuals), and its calculation includes total assets — cash and savings, investments held in TFSAs and RRSPs, real estate equity, employer pension plan values, and vehicles — minus total liabilities, including mortgages, student loans, and credit card balances. Housing is valued at current market price, which means net worth figures can vary considerably depending on regional real estate conditions.
Net Worth Peaks in the Pre-Retirement Years
According to available data, net worth generally follows a life-cycle curve, climbing steadily through a person’s working years and peaking in the 55 to 64 age range, with the median household net worth reaching approximately $873,400 in this bracket, before beginning to decline somewhat after retirement typically begins.
Senior Households
For Canadian seniors aged 65 and older, average net worth stands at approximately $1,058,788, while the median for the same group is notably lower at $543,200, according to Statistics Canada data. This considerable gap between average and median within the senior age bracket reflects significant wealth inequality even among older Canadians, with a substantial share of senior wealth concentrated among a relatively smaller number of higher-net-worth households.
Why the SFS 2023 Data Remains the Most Current Complete Picture
As of mid-2026, the Survey of Financial Security 2023, published in October 2024, remains Statistics Canada’s most recent comprehensive wealth survey, since the next SFS cycle, though collected between September 2025 and January 2026, had not yet been released. For more frequent updates, Statistics Canada also publishes the Distributions of Household Economic Accounts on a quarterly basis, though this is a separate, modelled series reporting averages only and should not be directly compared to the SFS median figures.
Recent Momentum in Household Wealth
The Distributions of Household Economic Accounts for the fourth quarter of 2025, released in April 2026, showed the average Canadian household holding approximately $1,078,642 in net worth, with the under-35 age group notably seeing a 5.7% rise in net worth within that single quarter alone — a signal of continued, if uneven, wealth growth across age groups heading into 2026.
A Widening Gap Between Immigrant and Canadian-Born Families
Statistics Canada has also tracked how wealth trends have diverged between different demographic groups over time, publishing specific research on trends in the wealth gap between immigrant and Canadian-born families from 2016 to 2023, reflecting a broader interest in understanding wealth distribution beyond simple age-based breakdowns.
Using Benchmarks Without Creating Unnecessary Pressure
Comparing your own net worth to national averages can be a useful gut-check, but financial advisors generally caution against treating these figures as a strict scorecard, since individual circumstances — income level, region, family structure, and career stage — vary enormously. A commonly cited alternative benchmark from financial researchers Thomas Stanley and William Danko suggests calculating expected net worth as (Age × Pre-tax Annual Income) ÷ 10, which adjusts the benchmark to your personal income level rather than relying purely on a broad national average.
The Retirement Wealth Gap
It’s worth noting that a meaningful share of Canadian senior households, particularly those in the bottom quarter of the wealth distribution, face real financial fragility heading into retirement, often depending heavily on government programs like the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security to supplement limited personal savings.
Regional Variation Across Canada
Net worth figures also vary considerably by province and region within Canada, largely driven by differences in real estate values, since housing equity typically makes up the single largest component of most Canadian households’ net worth. Households in higher-cost markets like British Columbia and Ontario often show higher average net worth figures than the national number suggests, while the median remains a more reliable comparison point specifically because it isn’t skewed by these regional real estate extremes in the way the average can be.
Final Thoughts
Canada’s average net worth of roughly $995,900 and median of $519,700 provide a useful national benchmark, though net worth varies considerably by age, region, and individual financial circumstances. Rather than treating these figures as a competitive scorecard, using them as general context for your own year-over-year financial progress offers a healthier and more productive way to think about where you stand.