TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a ranking of employment income growth in the largest 141 metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States from 2010 to 2019, only three Canadian cities rank in the top half, with Toronto—Canada’s largest metropolitan area—ranking 102nd, so finds a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Median employment incomes in Canada’s largest cities are growing more slowly than in comparable US cities, which means Canadians are foregoing higher living standards compared to their US counterparts,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Analysis of Changes in Median Employment Income in Large Canadian and American Metropolitan Areas, 2010-2019.
The study compares growth in median employment income—wages, salaries and commissions from paid and self-employment income (net) before taxes and government transfers—in 141 large metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States with populations of more than 400,000 people from 2010 to 2019.
Out of the 14 Canadian CMAs included in the study, only three rank in the top half: St. Catharines-Niagara ranking 51st, Quebec City (52nd) and Vancouver (57th). The remaining 11 are all in the bottom half of the rankings.
Employment income in Canada’s largest city—Toronto—was essentially stagnant from 2010 to 2019 having increased by just 0.4 per cent. Toronto ranked 102 out of the 141 cities in the analysis.
“The prosperity gap between Canadian and American metropolitan areas on this important metric widened throughout the 2010s,” said Eisen.
2010-2019 Compound annual growth in employment income ($2019 Canadian) and rank
| Metropolitan area | Growth | Rank | Metropolitan Area | Growth | Rank |
| St. Catharines-Niagara | 1.0% | 51 | Toronto | 0.4 | 102 |
| Quebec City | 1.0% | 52 | Oshawa | 0.2 | 116 |
| Vancouver | 0.9% | 57 | Halifax | 0.2 | 119 |
| Montreal | 0.7% | 73 | Winnipeg | 0.1 | 120 |
| Hamilton | 0.6 | 83 | Ottawa-Gatineau | 0.0 | 129 |
| London | 0.4 | 97 | Edmonton | -0.1 | 133 |
| Kitchener-Waterloo | 0.4 | 99 | Calgary | -0.3 | 136 |
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Ben Eisen, Senior Fellow
Fraser Institute
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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org
