After-tax income of economic family

Status: This standard was approved as a departmental standard on July 31, 2026.

Definition

After-tax income refers to total income less income taxes of the statistical unit during a specified reference period. Income taxes refers to the sum of federal income taxes, provincial and territorial income taxes, less abatement where applicable. Provincial and territorial income taxes include health care premiums in certain jurisdictions. Abatement reduces the federal income taxes payable by persons residing in Quebec or in certain self-governing Yukon First Nation settlement lands.

Economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who live in the same household and are related to each other through biological, couple, adoptive or foster relationships.

Examples of an economic family include two co-resident census families who are related to one another, co-resident siblings who are not members of a census family, or a niece or nephew living with their aunt or uncle.

All members of a given census family belong to the same economic family, as well as any other household members who are related to at least one member of the census family. In households with no census families present, all related persons in the household form an economic family.

Usage

When the mean, median or percentages are calculated for income, the units without income may be either included or excluded based on the analytic purpose. The units included in the calculation should be specified.

To facilitate comparison of income of persons not in families and families of different sizes or compositions, income can be adjusted using factors that account for the possibility of economies of scale for larger families. See 'adjusted after-tax income' in the Additional information section for more information.

Conformity to relevant internationally recognized standards

This standard does not correspond to the disposable income concept contained in the "Canberra Group Handbook on Household Income Statistics, Second edition". Unlike after-tax income, the disposable income concept accounts for social insurance contributions and other non-discretionary spending in order to measure income available for consumption and savings.

Measurements

  • Canadian dollar at constant prices for a specific reference year, adjusted using the national annual average all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) June 09, 2026 to current
  • 'Amount of income' is expressed in Canadian dollars. The data presentation should specify any adjustments made, including whether the unit of measure is current dollars or constant dollars. Amount of income can range from the lowest negative number on the file to the maximum positive number on the file. October 15, 2012 to current

Classifications

Additional information

In order to reduce response burden, many social statistics programs at Statistics Canada now gather information on income components and income taxes from administrative records from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to derive after-tax income. The after-tax income concept presented in this definition does not correspond to any income concepts used by CRA for tax purposes.

See:

Relation to previous version

  • After-tax income of economic family July 31, 2026 to current

    July 31, 2026 - The definition of the statistical unit "economic family" has been modified.

    June 9, 2026 - The Classification of after-tax income has been modified.

  • After-tax income of economic family March 21, 2016 to July 30, 2026

    This was the departmental standard from March 21, 2016 to July 30, 2026.

Date modified: