Canada keeps adding more rich people

The average Canadian may be struggling to get by, but the rich keep getting richer. So says the 2018 edition of the World Wealth Report, published by Paris-based consulting firm Capgemini.

From 2016 to 2017, the number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Canada grew by 5.5 percent, to 376,700, Capgemini found. (The standard definition of high net worth is at least $1 million in liquid assets.) Canadian HNWIs’ financial wealth swelled by 7.2 percent during the same period.

Globally in 2017, HNWI wealth exceeded US$70 trillion for the first time, a 10.6-percent gain over 2016 and the sixth straight year of growth. The 2,600-plus HNWIs surveyed for the report showed an appetite for cryptocurrencies, with almost 30 percent expressing a high degree of interest.