Canadas income gap is growing. Will Budget 2024 help affordability? – National [Video]

Higher interest rates last year contributed to the largest gap in income inequality since 2015, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

The findings come one day after the federal government tabled its 2024 budget, which one economist says won’t make many short-term differences in Canadians’ bank accounts.

The StatCan report released Wednesday said Canada’s higher interest rates had a “negative impact on the income and net worth of the lowest income and least wealthy households” in 2023.

The elevated rates allowed high-income households to gain higher yields on saving and investment accounts, while the struggle for low-income households to pay off debt charges heightened, StatCan said.

As a result, the gap between households in the two highest and two lowest income brackets widened to the greatest extent in eight years.

StatCan’s latest report highlights the income inequality that the 2024 federal budget largely aims to tackle. For example, the …