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