I recently came across an archive page for statistics based on T1 tax forms submitted each tax year in Canada.
Each year contains statistics for each province, one of which is total employment income for everyone who filed a tax return in those provinces.
For example, during the 2021 tax year (the most recent tax year available), there was a combined $2,142,180,000 in employment income declared in Alberta.
Here’s what each province looked like in 2021 for total employment income.
| ON | $6,969,250,000 |
| QC | $4,374,900,000 |
| BC | $2,481,700,000 |
| AB | $2,142,180,000 |
| MB | $636,090,000 |
| SK | $529,730,000 |
| NS | $475,690,000 |
| NB | $391,060,000 |
| NL | $259,030,000 |
| PEI | $84,670,000 |
Alberta sits at fourth place, which is honestly where I’d expect it to be, given that it has the fourth largest population.
Now let’s compare 2021 to the previous tax year to see how things changed for each province.
| 2021 | 2020 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $84,670,000 | $80,800,000 | $3,870,000 | 4.79% |
| NL | $259,030,000 | $248,540,000 | $10,490,000 | 4.22% |
| NS | $475,690,000 | $461,270,000 | $14,420,000 | 3.13% |
| QC | $4,374,900,000 | $4,250,470,000 | $124,430,000 | 2.93% |
| NB | $391,060,000 | $381,550,000 | $9,510,000 | 2.49% |
| BC | $2,481,700,000 | $2,439,410,000 | $42,290,000 | 1.73% |
| MB | $636,090,000 | $626,350,000 | $9,740,000 | 1.56% |
| ON | $6,969,250,000 | $6,878,130,000 | $91,120,000 | 1.32% |
| SK | $529,730,000 | $525,540,000 | $4,190,000 | 0.80% |
| AB | $2,142,180,000 | $2,131,370,000 | $10,810,000 | 0.51% |
Alberta had the fifth largest increase in combined declared employment income between 2020 and 2021. As a percentage of 2020 employment income, Alberta had the smallest increase, barely half a percent.
Québec had the largest increase in absolute dollars, at over $124 million, but Prince Edward Island has the largest increase as a percentage of 2020 employment income.
What happens when we look back a bit further than that though, say to 2015?
| 2021 | 2015 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $84,670,000 | $75,580,000 | $9,090,000 | 12.03% |
| BC | $2,481,700,000 | $2,246,870,000 | $234,830,000 | 10.45% |
| QC | $4,374,900,000 | $4,032,920,000 | $341,980,000 | 8.48% |
| ON | $6,969,250,000 | $6,456,960,000 | $512,290,000 | 7.93% |
| NS | $475,690,000 | $450,330,000 | $25,360,000 | 5.63% |
| MB | $636,090,000 | $614,620,000 | $21,470,000 | 3.49% |
| NB | $391,060,000 | $378,470,000 | $12,590,000 | 3.33% |
| SK | $529,730,000 | $542,560,000 | -$12,830,000 | -2.36% |
| AB | $2,142,180,000 | $2,205,540,000 | -$63,360,000 | -2.87% |
| NL | $259,030,000 | $268,440,000 | -$9,410,000 | -3.51% |
Alberta was one of 3 provinces that actually saw a reduction in combined declared employment income between 2015 and 2021. In fact, Alberta}s loss of over $63 million in employment income was the largest loss of the 3, eclipsing both Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
On the plus side, on a percentage basis, Alberta was jumps up one spot to second-to-last place.
Ontario saw the largest increase in employment income over this 6-year period, rising by more than half a billion dollars. PEI was, once again, in top place in terms of percentage increase.
Let’s go back even further, all the way to 2010.
| 2021 | 2010 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | $2,481,700,000 | $2,183,920,000 | $297,780,000 | 13.64% |
| PEI | $84,670,000 | $76,410,000 | $8,260,000 | 10.81% |
| ON | $6,969,250,000 | $6,344,040,000 | $625,210,000 | 9.86% |
| QC | $4,374,900,000 | $4,028,460,000 | $346,440,000 | 8.60% |
| AB | $2,142,180,000 | $1,994,020,000 | $148,160,000 | 7.43% |
| MB | $636,090,000 | $621,320,000 | $14,770,000 | 2.38% |
| NS | $475,690,000 | $469,830,000 | $5,860,000 | 1.25% |
| SK | $529,730,000 | $524,180,000 | $5,550,000 | 1.06% |
| NB | $391,060,000 | $396,750,000 | -$5,690,000 | -1.43% |
| NL | $259,030,000 | $270,870,000 | -$11,840,000 | -4.37% |
Here, Alberta improves dramatically, jumping back up to fourth place, with an increase of just shy of $150 million in combined declared employment income.
Ontario topped the list at over $625 million, followed by Québec at almost $350 million, and British Columbia at barely under $300 million.
On a percentage basis, Alberta drops slightly to 5th place, superseded by the three larger provinces and PEI.
This is all quite interesting, but I was curious what other data I could use to provide even more context. And I thought, “What about GDP?”.
Here is a look at the gross domestic product for all the provinces in 2020, 2015, and 2010, according to Statistics Canada.
| 2020 GDP | 2015 GDP | 2010 GDP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ON | $820,962,400,000 | $706,836,600,000 | $587,627,900,000 |
| QC | $420,699,200,000 | $357,758,800,000 | $306,664,500,000 |
| AB | $290,154,000,000 | $311,906,000,000 | $261,591,000,000 |
| BC | $287,201,800,000 | $231,725,300,000 | $190,873,500,000 |
| SK | $72,671,900,000 | $75,306,200,000 | $59,948,600,000 |
| MB | $67,965,100,000 | $60,958,600,000 | $49,508,300,000 |
| NS | $42,217,800,000 | $37,028,100,000 | $33,591,000,000 |
| NB | $33,820,300,000 | $30,602,600,000 | $27,752,900,000 |
| NL | $29,626,500,000 | $28,924,400,000 | $27,183,000,000 |
| PEI | $6,810,300,000 | $5,551,800,000 | $4,762,200,000 |
In this case, Alberta improves to third place!
That’s good, right? Doesn’t a higher GDP mean a stronger economy?
Well, you might remember, that Alberta was in 4th place in terms of employment income for 2020. And that’s kind of weird given that our GDP was the third highest that same year.
Shouldn’t a strong GDP result in higher incomes for everyone, sort of a trickle down effect, sort of speak?
Well, interesting you should ask. Here is employment income as a share of GDP for each province in those same 3 years.
| Share of GDP 2020 | Share of GDP 2015 | Share of GDP 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | 1.19% | 1.36% | 1.60% |
| NB | 1.13% | 1.24% | 1.43% |
| NS | 1.09% | 1.22% | 1.40% |
| QC | 1.01% | 1.13% | 1.31% |
| MB | 0.92% | 1.01% | 1.25% |
| BC | 0.85% | 0.97% | 1.14% |
| NL | 0.84% | 0.93% | 1.00% |
| ON | 0.84% | 0.91% | 1.08% |
| AB | 0.73% | 0.71% | 0.76% |
| SK | 0.72% | 0.72% | 0.87% |
Alberta is in second to last place.
Even though we had the third highest GDP in the country in 2020, we had the second lowest employment income as a share of GDP.
Plus, that share is lower than what it was a decade ago.
In fact, every province has seen a decline in employment income as a share of GDP since 2010.
Every province saw GDP increase over the last decade, so that money generated in the economy is going somewhere. It’s just not going to the workers.
