Incomes are rising in Montreal: Where do you fit in?

Incomes in Montreal rose faster than in any other metropolitan area in Canada in 2016 — but they remained among the lowest in the country.

For individuals, the median after-tax income in the Montreal census metropolitan area rose from $29,570 in 2015 to $29,940 in constant 2016 dollars, according to Statistics Canada.

That means that when inflation was accounted for, incomes rose an average 1.3 per cent.

The data shows that to be in the top one per cent of income earners, an individual needs a personal after-tax income slightly above $150,000.

Statistics Canada also measures the combined average of the median after-tax income of what it calls “census families” (couples, with or without children, and single parents) and single individuals without children.

That measure also showed median after-tax incomes rising by 1.3 per cent in Montreal from $44,620 in 2015 (in 2016 dollars) to $45,210 in 2016.

That increase was the largest in any of Canada’s 35 census metropolitan areas and more than 10 times the Canadian average of 0.1 per cent.

However, that increase didn’t change Montreal’s place in the rankings. In 2016 — and 2015 — only two metropolitan areas had lower after-tax incomes.

The second-largest increase was in Vancouver, where after-tax incomes for census families and people not in census families rose 1.2 per cent to $50,310.

Across Canada, the average increase, using this measure, was 0.1 per cent to $50,620 in 2016.

Only Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke had lower median after-tax incomes than Montreal using this measure.

“In terms of income growth, that’s where context matters,” said Sébastien Breau, a professor of economic geography at McGill University.

In Alberta, and to a certain extent British Columbia, economic growth has slowed because of the decline of energy prices in late 2015 and 2016.

“They are gradually recovering, but we’re not seeing, by any means, anything close to the investments that we had in the energy sector during the energy boom post2000,” Breau said. “Income growth is also a reflection of that, so Montreal, in relative terms, is probably doing a little better because of that slowing down of economic activities in Alberta and, to some extent, British Columbia.”

While median incomes may be increasing somewhat in Montreal, he said, there are signs of growing income inequality in the city.

“There is significant growth in certain high-end occupations, where education levels are quite high and requiring certain skill sets, but it’s not necessarily trickling down evenly across all other occupations,” Breau said.

While cities in Quebec have traditionally had lower levels of inequality than cities in other parts of Canada, Montreal now looks more like other large Canadian cities where income inequality is growing faster than in smaller centres or rural areas.

“Montreal is within the top 10 regions in Canada where inequality is growing rapidly,” Breau said.