Canada's millionaire club to grow by half over next five years

Canada’s exclusive millionaire club is the world’s third-fastest growing millionaire cohort, according to a new wealth report.

The new report from Credit Suisse says the number of millionaires in Canada could surge by more than half over the next five years, trailing only China and Russia in terms of percentage increase. The group is expected to grow by 54 per cent -- topping almost two million people -- by 2023, according to the latest Global Wealth Report.

“The number of millionaires in a country and its trend over time is often seen as a sign of a country’s economic health and its ability to generate opportunities for wealth creation,” the report reads.

In 2018, there were nearly 1.3 million millionaires in Canada, compared to the 17.3 million in the U.S., a country where the wealth “boom goes on,” the report said. For Canada, the growth has been “slower” since 2000, compared to the dramatic swells and dips of other countries highlighted in the report. In Brazil, where there are 154,000 millionaires, wealth per adult has fallen 36 per cent since 2011 as the country faces political and economic crises. In Canada, wealth per adult grew at an average rate of 5.4 per cent over the last 18 years.

All figures in the Global Wealth Report are measured in U.S. dollars, so the number of millionaires in Canada will perhaps be even larger than the report suggests. About $1,300,000 in Canadian currency made you a millionaire in the U.S. at time of writing.

The report notes that low interest rates in Canada helped encourage a “housing boom” in some cities, and while there was concern that the boom was “getting out of hand,” efforts to curb a crisis have been implemented with in some provinces. “High real estate values nevertheless continue to be an important driver of household wealth in Canada,” the report reads.

Canadian home sales compared with a year ago fell 8.9 per cent in September, according to a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association, while the average price for a home sold was up 0.2 per cent to $487,000. Excluding the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver area -- the most expensive markets -- the average price was far less in September at just over $383,000.

Despite the increases in wealth, the report warns that the Canadian economy faces some “head-winds,” making note of dropping oil prices from Canada’s tar sands and the trade debacle between the U.S. and Canada.

“Trade frictions have become serious,” it reads. “The outlook for the economy, and wealth, is therefore somewhat uncertain.”

The Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Wealth Report 2018 is now available. Find out more. #CSgwr
— Credit Suisse (@CreditSuisse) October 18, 2018