A new report from a major Canadian economic think-tank found taxes cost the average Canadian family more than their food, clothing and shelter combined.

The report, from the Fraser Institute, found the average Canadian family earns approximately $74,000 while paying just under $31,000 a year in taxes.

That alone represents nearly 41.5 per cent of total income.

The report also looked at the combined tax burden over the last half-century, finding the average tax-bill has increased by nearly 1,737 per cent, compared to the cost of shelter climbing only 1,200 per cent.

Food and clothing, meanwhile, jumped approximately 500 per cent.

Combined, food, shelter and clothing represent about 33 per cent of the total income for the average family.

The major increase in tax rate also outpaces the increase in Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index, which jumped 663 per cent over the same time period.

Basically the numbers reveal a flip in cost distribution.

Back in 1961 Canadians paid on average 33.5 per cent of their income in taxes, while spending 41 per cent on necessities.