In the 141 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States, the study examines the median employment income, which includes earnings, salaries, and commissions from paid work as well as self-employment income (net) before taxes and government transfers.
Only two of the study’s 14 Canadian CMAs place in the top half, while many more Canadian CMAs—which do significantly worse than their American counterparts—are included in the lowest 10% of the rankings.
The highest-ranking Canadian metro area is Ottawa-Gatineau (52 out of 141), with a score of $45,500. Edmonton (53) is next, with a score of $45,470, while Calgary (72) is worst, with a score of $43,870. The three Canadian CMAs with the lowest rankings are St. Catharines-Niagara (138), London (135) and Montreal (134), respectively, at $31,540, $36,180, and $36,660.
Importantly, among all 141 locations in the analysis, the employment wages are among the lowest in Canada’s largest cities, including Montreal (134th), Toronto (127th), and Vancouver (131st), which together account for a sizeable share of the country’s population (34.9%).
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