Net worth is the single number that sums up your finances: what you own minus what you owe. This calculator adds it up, along with your liquid net worth, and the sections below explain what to count and how to value it. Once you have a number, net worth by age and the net worth percentile calculator show how it compares with other Canadian families. All are part of the financial planning hub.
Calculate your net worth
What you own
What you owe
Enter what you own and owe, then calculate.
What counts
| Assets (what you own) | Debts (what you owe) |
|---|---|
| Chequing and savings accounts | Mortgage balance |
| TFSA, RRSP, RRIF, LIRA, FHSA, RESP | Home equity line of credit |
| Non-registered investments | Credit card balances |
| Employer pension (DC balance or DB commuted value) | Vehicle loans and leases |
| Home at market value | Student loans |
| Other real estate | Personal loans and lines of credit |
| Vehicles at resale value | Money owed to family or others |
| Business equity, and major items you could sell |
Valuing your assets
- Accounts: use the balance or market value on your latest statement.
- Your home: recent sale prices of similar homes nearby are one guide. In British Columbia, for example, a property tax assessment reflects the value as of July 1 of the previous year, so it can differ from what the home would sell for today.
- Vehicles: what the car would sell for today, from used-car listings or a valuation guide, not what you paid.
- A defined benefit pension: ask the plan administrator for the commuted value; the pension commuted value page explains how it’s calculated.
- Belongings: Statistics Canada’s figures include the contents of the home and valuables and collectibles. If you include them, use what they would realistically sell for.
Questions about what counts
Does home equity count?
In total net worth, yes: the home goes in at what it would sell for today, and the mortgage goes on the debt side, so what counts is the equity between them. Statistics Canada’s family figures count it the same way. Liquid net worth, below, leaves the home out.
Should you include your pension?
A defined contribution plan counts at its balance. A defined benefit pension has a value too, even with no account balance; Statistics Canada includes employer pension plans in family net worth and values them on a termination basis, roughly what the plan would owe you if you left it.
RRSP: before or after tax?
The balance on an RRSP statement is before tax: the CRA notes that you generally pay tax when you withdraw from an RRSP. Statistics Canada lists RRSPs, RRIFs and LIRAs among the private pension assets it counts in net worth. One approach for personal tracking is to count them at an estimated after-tax value; using the same method every year keeps the trend comparable either way.
Can net worth be negative?
Yes. When debts add up to more than assets, net worth is below zero; a student loan or car loan with little saved and no home can do it.
Total, liquid and investable net worth
| Measure | What it includes | What it’s useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Total net worth | Every asset, minus every debt | The standard measure, and the one Statistics Canada reports |
| Liquid net worth | Cash and investment accounts, minus debts other than the mortgage | How much you could draw on without selling your home |
| Investable net worth | Investment accounts only (TFSA, RRSP, non-registered) | Planning retirement income from savings |
An example
A household with $15,000 in the bank, $45,000 in a TFSA, $85,000 in an RRSP, a home worth $650,000 and a car worth $18,000 owns $813,000 in assets. Against a $420,000 mortgage, a $12,000 car loan and a $3,000 credit card balance, it owes $435,000. Its net worth is $378,000; its liquid net worth, counting only the bank and investment accounts less the car loan and card balance, is $130,000.
Tracking it over time
Recalculating once or twice a year, on the same date, shows whether savings and debt repayment are adding up. A spreadsheet works; so do apps that connect to Canadian bank and investment accounts. The number will move with markets and home prices, so the trend over several years says more than any single year’s change.