A federal wealth surtax on Canada’s richest households could bring in as much as $23 billion annually, according to a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Blacklock's Reporter says the report, Implementing Annual Wealth Tax, examined the fiscal potential of a proposal from the Green Party to impose yearly surtaxes on high-net-worth individuals.
The estimated five-year revenue from such a measure could total $121.5 billion. But officials cautioned that outcomes would depend heavily on how Canada’s wealthiest citizens adjust their financial behavior in response.
“The main sources of uncertainty relate to the wealth distribution of high net worth individuals as well as the magnitude of the behavioural response,” the report noted.
The Green Party’s proposal includes a 1% yearly surtax on households worth between $10 million and $50 million, 2% on net worth above $50 million, and 3% for those above $100 million. “Too much wealth is in too few hands,” the party stated. “This threatens both our democracy and our economy.”
The push for a wealth tax has also come from the New Democrats, who support a 1% annual levy on households with more than $20 million in assets. “Our plan is simple,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. “We can afford to help people when we ask the super rich to pay a little bit more to fund the services we rely on.”
Liberal Housing Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, while still a backbencher in 2021, introduced a private motion proposing a surtax of up to 5% on wealth above $20 million. The motion failed to pass, but he defended the idea, saying, “We have to tackle wealth inequality.”
Canada's wealthiest families — such as the Thomsons, Westons, Irvings, McCains, Rogers, and Pattisons — hold fortunes ranging from $10 billion to $98 billion, according to Maclean’s and Canadian Business rankings published in 2024.
Despite growing support among some MPs, the federal government has consistently dismissed the idea of a wealth tax. “It is easy and wonderful to say to people we are going to tax the wealthiest and we are going to do this, do that, and take all that money and give it to the poor,” said Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux in 2022.
“At the end of the day we need to spend time focusing on Canada’s middle class.”
