The Gender Wealth Gap in the Canadian Provinces: Predicting and Comparing the Individual Wealth of Men and Women between 2005 and 2023

Pugliese, Maude ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2248-7433; Diallo, Mamoudou ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5965-3462 et Pena Ruiz, Diana ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5983-9615 (2025). The Gender Wealth Gap in the Canadian Provinces: Predicting and Comparing the Individual Wealth of Men and Women between 2005 and 2023 Canadian Studies in Population , vol. 52 , nº 14. DOI: 10.1007/s42650-025-00101-y.

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Résumé

Although research on wealth disparities between men and women is expanding, the topic remains understudied in Canada due to the predominant collection of asset and debt data at the household level, which conceals intra-family inequalities. This article helps address this research gap by leveraging five waves of the Survey of Financial Security, conducted between 2005 and 2023, and applying a machine learning approach to estimate individual-level nonpension wealth for Canadian men and women. These estimates are also combined with data on wealth held in employer-sponsored pension plans observed at the individual level. The results reveal that women consistently possess less wealth than men, though the extent of this gap varies across provinces and has narrowed over time, particularly concerning pension wealth. The study further investigates whether Quebec’s adoption of an explicit family policy in the late 1990s, which facilitated women’s participation in the paid labour force, along with its distinctive legal framework for the division of property upon union dissolution, were associated with a reduction of gender wealth disparities in this province. While gender wealth gaps have declined more in Quebec than in several other provinces since 2005, particularly among younger cohorts, similar trends are also observed in other Canadian regions, particularly Ontario. This provides mixed evidence regarding the impact of Quebec’s policies, calling for follow-up studies in the coming years, when the cohorts that have benefited from the family policy measures will have grown older and amassed more wealth. Importantly, the findings underscore the need for improved data collection practices in Canada to better capture intrafamily wealth disparities and inform more effective policy interventions.

Type de document:	Article
Mots-clés libres:	gender wealth gap; wealth inequality; pension wealth; machine learning; family policy; Canada
Centre:	Centre Urbanisation Culture Société
Date de dépôt:	14 janv. 2026 18:29
Dernière modification:	14 janv. 2026 18:29
URI:	https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/16800

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