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October 03, 2022HOUSEHOLD WEALTH, Q2 2022 As part of its new quarterly data for Distribution of Household Economic Accounts, Statistics Canada is now providing quarterly data on household wealth. This information is available for provinces as well as for income quintiles and age groups. These concepts align with the Provincial and Territorial Economic Accounts, but they remain subject to revision in future releases.
Household Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth
In quarter 2, 2022 Nova Scotia’s average household wealth was $647,925 and was ithe highest among the Atlantic provinces. British Columbia and Ontario had the highest household wealth among all provinces. The household net worth in Q2 in 2022 compared to Q1 2022 in Canada fell 6.5%. All provinces stayed close to the national average decline. Saskatchewan reported teh smallest decline and Alberta had the largest decline. Nova Scotia had a decrease of 6.6%.
Canada’s average assets were $1,113,387 in the second quarter of 2022. Nova Scotia’s assets were well below the national average at $745,764. Following this trend, Nova Scotia also had one of the lowest liabilities amounts at $97,838. As a result, the net worth came to $647,925, but it was the highest net worth among the Atlantic provinces. Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta had net worth higher than the national average.
Compared to Q2 2021, assets on the national level decreased by $12,708 and the liabilities increased by $6,611, bringing national net worth down by $19,318. Nova Scotia’s assets and liabilities also decreased by $40,029 and $1,126 respectively from 2021 Q2 to 2022 Q2. Thus, decreasing the net worth per household by $38,904. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island decreased significantly more compared to other provinces on the net worth level becsue of large declines in life insurance and pension assets. Ontario had one of the largest increases in liabilities.
In detailed assets and liabilities in Q2 2022, Nova Scotia had leading assets in life insurance and other financial assets. Life insurance and Pensions in Nova Scotia were higher ($217,785) than the national average of $182,134. British Columbia and Ontario had real estate assets far above the national average of $513,522.
The national level for Mortgage Liabilities in Q2 2022 was $126,252. Nova Scotia was below the national average at $56,219. Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia surpassed the national average. Other liabilities for Nova Scotia were below average at $41,619.
Even though life insurance and pensions in Q2 2022 vs Q2 2021 in Nova Scotia were greater than the national average, the decrease in Q2 2022 was significantly larger than the national average. Life insurance and pension assets decreased by $28,755 per household, the largest decrease among all provinces. Other financial assets in Nova Scotia decreased by 15,389 and were below national average. Nova Scotia’s change in real estate in Q2 2022 from the previous year was $3,929. Nova Scotia had the lowest change in nonfinancial assets at $187 from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022.
Nova Scotia's mortgage liabilities fell by $760. The national average change of $6,557 was skewed by Ontario’s change of $12,434 and British Columbia’s change of $9,418. Nova Scotia's other liabilities decreased by $1,886 while the national average over the four quarters increased by $54.
Over time, Nova Scotia's average household net worth has increased from $357,173 in 2010 Q4 to a pre-pandemic level of $577,919 in 2019 Q4. Although net worth contracted in every province at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 Q1, every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick recovered by the next quarter (these provinces had recovered by the third quarter).
Household net worth year-over-year in Canada started to decelerate over the last quarter, although many provinces have started to show signs of slowing growth much earlier.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0661-01 Distributions of household economic accounts, wealth, Canada, regions and provinces, quarterly (x 1,000,000)
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