OTTAWA -- An annual income of $89,000 was enough to place a Canadian among the top five per cent of individual tax-filers in 2004, says the most recent data from Statistics Canada.

The top one per cent of earners was limited to those who raked in $181,000 a year, while membership in the super-elite club consisting of the richest 0.01 per cent of Canadians required an annual paycheque of $2.8 million.

Three-quarters of the top five per cent of earners were men, StatsCan reports, even though men comprise a minority (48 per cent) of individual income tax-filers. The group becomes even more male-heavy at the top end of the income spectrum. Just one in nine of the top 0.01 per cent of earners was a woman.

Though their membership in the very highest-earning group hasn't increased over the past two decades, women made gains among the top five per cent, with their ranks increasing by 10 per cent since 1982.

Almost half (48 per cent) of the top five per cent of taxpayers live in Ontario, followed distantly by Quebec (18 per cent), Alberta (15 per cent) and B.C. (13).

© The Vancouver Province 2007