VANCOUVER—The average Canadian family spent 43 per cent of its income on taxes in 2017, more than housing, food and clothing costs combined, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Many Canadians will be surprised to learn that taxes—and not life’s basic necessities, including housing—is the biggest household expense,” said Charles Lammam, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the Canadian Consumer Tax Index, which tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2017.
