An income of at least $89,000 was needed to be in the top five per cent of earners in 2004, Statistics Canada said Monday.

This "five per cent club" earned 25 per cent of the income Canadians declared in 2004 — up from 21 per cent in 1992. They paid 36 per cent of the personal taxes collected in 2004.

The country's 1.2 million high-income earners — those among the top five per cent — were predominantly male (75 per cent), aged 45 to 64 (54 per cent) and married (78 per cent), Statistics Canada said.

Almost half (46 per cent) of the top five per cent of tax filers lived in Ontario. About 18 per cent are in Quebec, followed by Alberta (15 per cent) and British Columbia (13 per cent).

In the U.S., an income of at least $165,000 was the requirement to join the "five per cent club."

Statistics Canada said the income differences between the two countries became even bigger farther up the income distribution ladder. 

In Canada, the top .01 per cent of income earners made at least $2.8 million, while in the U.S., you couldn't join that super-elite club unless you had an income of at least $9.4 million. 

100 with incomes above $648,000 paid no tax 

About a third of Canada's top .01 per cent earners had an effective tax rate of more than 40 per cent, but some paid as little as 10 per cent, Statistics Canada said.

About 100 people who earned at least $648,000 in 2004 paid no income tax at all that year.

"Tax deductions, such as business losses and gifts to the Crown, are responsible for a number of these situations," the agency said.

After adjusting for inflation between 1992 and 2004, those Canadians who were in the top 20 per cent saw their incomes rise substantially, Statistics Canada said.

"However, individuals in the rest of the population generally saw little improvement in constant-dollar income," it said.