A new TMU study has concluded that when measuring income inequality in populations, the town of Oakville is one of the worst municipalities in all of Canada.
According to a new analysis of Statistics Canada data from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and Canada's Local News Data Hub, Oakville's household income inequality between is among the ten most disparate in Canada.
The study says that, "Income inequality, known for its corrosive effects on health, happiness and community ties, is worse in Oakville, Ontario than in most Canadian municipalities."
In the TMU study, the town of Oakville ranked 10th nationwide for household income inequality.
During 2020, the highest earning 10% of Oakville households made five times more than the lowest earning 10%.
Ivan Townshend, a social geographer at the University of Lethbridge and one of the study's consultants, says that in places with significant levels of inequality, high- and low-income residents tend to "become socially isolated among people like themselves."
"People of different means have fewer opportunities to cross paths when neighbourhoods separate those who “have” from those who “have not” - the isolation can make it easier for rich and poor to form ideas about each other based on stereotypes and then blame the other group for social ills," adds Townshed.
Income inequality, says the report, has been linked to a reduced sense of community belonging, greater distrust among residents, more financial worries and increased anxiety about social status - outcomes all associated with lower levels of happiness and poorer mental and physical health.
Research from the same project finds the inequalities also show associated big income gaps with greater political polarization and increases in theft and vandalism fuelled by desperation and a sense of unfairness.
According to Ontario's Living Wage Network, Oakville is part of the GTA zone in the province, with the highest overall cost of living in Canada. Oakville News also reported two weeks ago that the cost of rent in Oakville was now the highest of any place in all of Canada.
To conduct the nationwide study, the Local News Data Hub ranked the country's 418 municipalities with more than 10,000 people using Statistics Canada’s 2020 Gini index for adjusted after-tax household income. (The Gini index is an internationally recognized tool statisticians use to measure how income is distributed across a society.)
The nearest municipality on the list was Toronto, Ontario, which ranked 9th worst in the country. Westmount, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, topped the list at #1.
Editor's Note: Some parts of this story, including some interview quotes, were produced and procured by the Local News Data Hub, a project of the Local News Research Project at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Journalism.