A \u201cwealth chasm\u201d<\/p>\n
The report, which uses data from Statistics Canada, Maclean\u2019s, and Forbes, found that the 40 richest in Canada saw their wealth soar by over 20 per cent, amassing an additional C$95 billion between 2024 and 2025. The top one per cent richest (those with a net worth of C$7 million or more) hold nearly a quarter of the wealth in Canada, or almost C$1.25 trillion in wealth \u2014 nearly as much as the bottom 80 per cent combined.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t a narrow wealth gap but a wide, expansive, echoing wealth chasm,\u201d states Oxfam. \u201cThis chasm is driven by a rise in the cost of essentials like food and housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the bottom 40 per cent of \u201cwealth holders\u201d collectively hold only three per cent of the total wealth in Canada, with an average net worth of under C$87,000.<\/p>\n
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To add to the wealth disparity, in 2023, 10.9 per cent of Canadians or a total of around four million people, were living in poverty, and grocery prices were up almost five percent in 2025 compared to 2024. In 2024, 25 per cent of Canadians were living in food-insecure households, and an estimated 300,000 were experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cEconomic inequality \u2014 both income inequality and wealth inequality \u2013 has reached crisis levels in Canada,\u201d states the report. \u201cIn 2025, income inequality was at a record high. Wealth inequality, while harder to measure as a result of how Statistics Canada collects data, is also growing in Canada and is part of a larger global trend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oxfam attributes this increasing wealth accumulation to the concentrated ownership and the billionaires\u2019 ability to limit competition in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake, for example, telecom dominated by an oligopoly comprised of Rogers, Bell, TELUS \u2014 \u2018The Big Three\u2019 \u2014 and who charge Canadians some of the highest cellphone rates in the world,\u201d states the report.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s wealthiest also control the grocery sector, as well as the media and press companies. Oxfam warns that rising inequality and the erosion of democracy go hand in hand, with companies lobbying for \u201cthe interests of their wealthy owners and shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Possible solutions include establishing a wealth tax that would apply to individuals with a net worth of C$10 million and above. An estimate by the Parliamentary Budget Office suggests that a modest tax on wealth of over C$10 million could bring in approximately C$25 billion\u00a0in revenues annually over the next five years.<\/p>\n
Canada could also curb the use of offshore tax havens, and support the creation of an International Panel on Inequality (IPI) to help \u201cinform and empower robust policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meet the billionaires
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Globally, the number of billionaires increased to 3,000. Elon Musk remains the world\u2019s richest with over half a trillion U.S. dollars in wealth. Canada\u2019s billionaires may be less globally recognized, but their names are familiar to many Canadians.<\/p>\n
The Thompson family remain the richest family in Canada with a net worth of C$90.2 billion. They own a 70 per cent stake in Thomson Reuters through holding company Woodbridge Co. It\u2019s one of the 10 largest media and press companies in the world.<\/p>\n
Second is Galen Weston, with a total net worth of C$20.6 billion, accumulated through Loblaw, which owns groceries, real estate, and pharmacies. Oxfam notes the increasing food prices, 27 per cent higher than they were in the past five years. Loblaw was also among several supermarket chains accused of being part of a bread-fixing scandal<\/a>. The Rogers family also own the biggest telecom company in Canada and has a net worth of C$11.9 billion. Oxfam states that cell phone prices in Canada continue to rise, and Canadians pay some of the highest cell phone and internet bills in the world.<\/p>\n Other billionaires on the list include Jim Pattison (net worth C$11.9 billion, transportation, grocery, forestry) and the Irving family (net worth $15.8 billion, oil, forestry, agriculture).<\/p>\n