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Average net worth in Canada by age? The official 2023 medians
The official 2023 Statistics Canada medians by age group, the family-unit definition behind them, and why an average can overstate the middle household.
Statistics Canada's 2023 Survey of Financial Security reports median family-unit net worth of $159,100 under age 35, rising to a peak of $873,400 at ages 55 to 64, then $738,900 at 65 and older. These are medians in constant 2023 dollars, grouped by the age of the major income earner: the middle family unit of each group, not an arithmetic average. They are context, not an individual target and not a retirement-readiness score.
The official age table
The source is Statistics Canada table 11-10-0016-01, from the 2023 Survey of Financial Security. It combines economic families with people who are not in an economic family, and groups each family unit by the age of its major income earner. The values are medians in constant 2023 dollars.
Statistics Canada released the table on 2024-10-29, and every value below was verified against the official full-table CSV on 2026-08-09. The vector beside each value names the exact field in the source table, so any number here can be checked in one lookup.
| Age of major income earner | Median net worth | Statistics Canada vector |
|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $159,100 | v80529419 |
| 35 to 44 | $409,300 | v80529437 |
| 45 to 54 | $675,800 | v80529455 |
| 55 to 64 | $873,400 | v80529473 |
| 65 and older | $738,900 | v80529491 |
Average or median: what an average can hide
A search for the average net worth in Canada usually wants to know what a typical household has. The official figures recorded here answer that question with medians: line every family unit in an age group up by net worth and take the middle one. Median means that middle family unit, not the arithmetic average.
An average answers a different question. Wealth is concentrated, so a small number of extremely wealthy households can pull an average far above the experience of the middle household. Quoting an average as if it were typical quietly moves the benchmark up, which is why this guide records the published medians and does not construct an average from them.
Why the comparison can mislead
Net worth adds financial accounts, housing, pensions and other assets, then subtracts debt. Two households with the same net worth can have completely different ability to fund monthly spending: one may hold liquid investments, while the other may hold most of the value in a home and an employer pension.
The table also describes family units, not one person. Comparing an individual balance with a household median silently changes the unit. Compare definitions before comparing dollars.
Use a plan, not a percentile
Our position: the benchmark is useful for orientation and poor as a goal. Retirement readiness depends on spending, investable assets, debt, taxes, CPP, OAS, employer pensions and time. A national median contains none of those decisions.
Run the retirement and FIRE calculations with your own cash flow. If the plan works, being below a national wealth median is not a failure. If the plan does not work, being above it is not protection.
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