QAIPPE stands for the “Quintile of Annual Income Per Person Equivalent.” In the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada calculated the average income per person for each dissemination area. Twenty-percent of dissemination areas with the lowest incomes have a QAIPPE of “1”, while 20% of the dissemination areas with the highest incomes are given a QAIPPE of “5”.*
Looking at key demographic characteristics by income quintiles can help identify groups of greatest need in a population. For example, if we look at the percentage of lone parent families, we see that the largest proportion (18.6%) fall into the lowest income quintile. The same is true for the percentage of seniors living alone (35%). Conversely, our highest income quintile (QAIPPE = 5) has the highest percentage of residents with a university degree (26.4%).
*Source: Statistics Canada. 2006 Census Dictionary, Dissemination Area (DA). Retrieved September 18, 2012 from http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/ref/dict/geo021a-eng.cfm.