“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”
That line, published in an F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “The Rich Boy” in 2026, went on to become an oft-quoted truism about the wealthy. Less widely remembered (along with the short story itself) is what the narrator of the tale says about outsiders’ understanding of the world of wealth: it is invariably based on lies, told by everyone, including the wealthy. “Even the intelligent and impassioned reporters of life,” the narrator says, “have made the country of the rich as unreal as fairy-land.”
At Canadian Family Offices, we like to think of ourselves as intelligent and impassioned reporters (albeit with a far less literary manner than Fitzgerald’s) when we write about wealth in Canada through the lens of families and the advisors who support them. Yet we are well aware of the validity of the narrator’s argument even today.
Popular depictions of the lives of the rich, from Succession to The Kardashians, often propagate myths and biases about privilege, class, hard work, power and virtue—and, of course, make full use of the superficial attractions of “bling.” These might be entertaining, but they are not particularly useful, either in developing an accurate picture of HNW families or in helping those families and their advisors navigate the complications of wealth. And that is Canadian Family Offices’ “reason to exist”—to fill a clear gap in real-world knowledge about wealthy families and family offices in Canada.
Towards that goal, we are publishing a new special report through July and August that seeks to develop a portrait of the realities, the challenges and the opportunities for wealth in this country. It is obviously a broad topic, but we think it’s a timely one.
The makeup of wealth in Canada is changing. The businesses and fortunes of the baby boomers are passing on to the next generation. The multicultural composition of Canada is giving birth to new entrepreneurs and new success stories. Digital risk is putting a new focus on the security of finances and family, and a new premium on privacy. (For one manifestation of the latter, read David Israelson’s recent article on off-market luxury real estate transactions.) Trends in policy, including taxes, are presenting new challenges to wealth creation and preservation. And in a world where the wealthiest 10 per cent hold as much as three-quarters of total wealth, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” is becoming a financial, reputational and perhaps physical risk for the well-to-do.
Among the upcoming articles in our Summer Wealth Special Report:
- Where the wealthy live: a guide to the richest neighbourhoods in Canada.
- Where the wealthy play: global hotspots for luxury tourism.
- Where the wealthy are moving: Which countries are attracting the most UHNW immigrants—and why?
- An updated ranking of the 20 wealthiest people in Canada.
- Wealth inequality: fact, fiction and risks.
- How to mitigate tax risk for luxury assets.
- Which sectors will generate wealth in Canada in the future?
- A video interview with Thane Stenner of Stenner Wealth Partners+ multi-family office on how and why becoming wealthy makes life so complicated.
That is a pretty wide-ranging lineup, yes, but our hope is that these and other stories in our special report will contribute to a fuller picture of wealth in Canada—and maybe dispel a few myths and biases along the way, without venturing too far into “fairy-land.”
As always, readers’ thoughts and ideas are welcome. Feel free to contact us at newsroom@canadianfamilyoffices.com.
Joe Chidley is managing editor of Canadian Family Offices.
The Canadian Family Offices newsletter comes out on Sundays and Wednesdays. If you are interested in stories about Canadian enterprising families, family offices and the professionals who work with them, sign up for our free newsletter here.
Please visit here to see information about our standards of journalistic excellence.