(March 15 – 11:35 ET) – Statistics Canada today released a new survey of Canadians’ net worth that shows the growing importance of RRSPs.

The 1999 Survey of Financial Security provides a comprehensive statistical portrait of Canadians’ net worth.

According to the survey, total assets, everything from stocks and bonds to principal residences, amounted to almost $2.9 trillion in 1999. The single most important non-financial asset for Canadians was their principal residence, which accounted for about 38% of total assets. The most important financial asset was their RRSP, which represented 12% of all assets. (The value of employer-sponsored pension plan benefits was not used to calculate assets.)

The most significant change in the composition of assets since the first survey back in 1984 is the amount invested in RRSPs. The aggregate amount in RRSPs in 1999 was 6.4 times larger than in 1984, measured in constant 1999 dollars, by far the largest growth of any single asset. In comparison, total assets were 1.8 times larger in 1999 than in 1984.

The 55% of families that held RRSPs in 1999 was a sharp rise from 28% in 1984. The biggest increase occurred in the 25-to-34 age group, where the proportion of families with RRSPs more than doubled from 23% to 59%. In the 45 to 54 age group, the proportion was 71%.

Of total financial assets, 40% was held in RRSPs. The 1984 median value of an RRSP increased 2.1 times to $20,000 in 1999. For family units in which the major income recipient was 55 to 64, the median RRSP was $50,000 in 1999, 3.3 times the 1984 median.

The survey also illustrates Canada’s more equitable wealth distribution compared to the United States. According to the survey, the median net worth of Canada’s estimated 12.2 million family units was about $81,000. The 10% of families with the highest net worth held 53% of all personal wealth in 1999 (median $703,500). By comparison, the top 10% of families in the U.S. hold about two-thirds of all personal net worth.

Among provinces, median net worth was highest for Ontario families at $101,400; followed by Saskatchewan at $97,300; then Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Quebec came in at just $61,300, but Newfoundland families had the lowest net median worth, about $53,000.

Canadians overall had on average an estimated $16 in debts for every $100 in assets. Total debts are estimated at $458 billion, three-quarters of which are mortgages. Loans on owned vehicles amounted to about $29 billion, or 6% of the total, while student loans (3%) and credit card debts (3%) each exceeded $14 billion.

The survey covered about 16,000 households, collecting information on the assets and debts of families and unattached individuals from May to July 1999.