Photo: Andrawaag · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer of Big Lakes County’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 91% of Canadian towns
Big Lakes County is the usual workplace of 445 people, and 1,165 of its own residents commute to a job. In 2020, a household at the middle of Big Lakes County had $76,500 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 13% of Big Lakes County’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Work in Big Lakes County, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 62% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 48%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.6% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 13%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Big Lakes County grades C for jobs and income
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #393 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
How the grade works
Census 2021 measures, weighed equally against every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 people or more: the share of residents aged 15 to 64 in work, median household income (2020), the unemployment rate and the average commute. Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
How many in Big Lakes County have a job: 62% of 15-to-64s
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 17, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 48% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 63% of the wider area’s adults in work. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: people in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64, and the census unemployment rate (15 and over); the 25-to-54 rate is Statistics Canada’s own (98-10-0485). The Labour Force Survey and business counts are context, not grade inputs.
More of Big Lakes County’s workers leave each day than arrive
It sends out some 6 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 25% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
76% of Big Lakes County’s residents in work leave it to work; High Prairie takes the most
- High Prairie40
- Slave Lake35
- Edmonton20
- Lesser Slave River No. 12415
- Morinville10
- Drift Pile River 15010
- Swan River 150E10
- Kapawe'no First Nation 22910
- High Prairie680
- Slave Lake65
- Utikoomak Lake 15535
- McLennan35
- Sucker Creek 150A15
- Opportunity No. 1710
- Drift Pile River 15010
- Grande Prairie County No. 110
- Falher10
In the other direction the biggest source is High Prairie, with 40.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Big Lakes County: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 51% of Canadian towns.
7 of the 8 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 17 have a higher median. Big Lakes County’s median is 17% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
3.3% of commuters in Big Lakes County walk, cycle or take transit
Nearly everyone drives: 96% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 21%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
At 23.4 minutes, commutes from Big Lakes County are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.7 minutes. The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 43% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 5.6% take an hour or more, against 7%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
In Census Division No. 17, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
In July 2021 it reached 3,310, the most in the series and 2.3 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.3 receive EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: Census Division No. 17. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Big Lakes County is: C
Better than 27% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #442 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Big Lakes County ranks: 552nd of 720 Canadian towns of 3,600 to 6,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Richmond Alberta | 4,811 | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Cardston County Alberta | 4,938 | 61% | 4.4% | $90K | C |
| 551 | Carlisle Alberta | 4,609 | 62% | 15% | $83K | C |
| 552 | Big Lakes County Alberta | 5,106 | 62% | 13% | $77K | C |
| 553 | Parkview West Ontario | 3,686 | 64% | 18% | $89K | C− |
| 554 | Leila-McPhillips Triangle Manitoba | 3,824 | 70% | 8.5% | $72K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 720 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Big Lakes County, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Big Lakes County: jobs, pay and the commute
Big Lakes County has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 22–71 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Lakes County | 62% | 13% | $77K | 23.4 min | C | C |
| High Prairie 21.6 km | 76% | 12% | $88K | 14.9 min | A | A+ |
| Falher 67.2 km | 72% | 12% | $71K | 19 min | B− | A+ |
| Smoky River No. 130 71.5 km | 83% | 7% | $89K | 29.1 min | B+ | D |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Big Lakes County, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Big Lakes County
Where do people in Big Lakes County work?
25% work in Big Lakes County itself. Of those who leave, the most go to High Prairie (680), then Slave Lake (65).
How many jobs are there in Big Lakes County?
The 2021 census counted about 445 people working in Big Lakes County: 0.4 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 112 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Big Lakes County?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% for the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Big Lakes County?
The census puts Big Lakes County at $76,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Big Lakes County get to work?
By car: 96% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit and 2.6% walk; on census day 21% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Big Lakes County?
23.4 minutes is the average trip, with 43% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.6% taking an hour or more.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0323 (EI beneficiaries) · Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (14-10-0459, 14-10-0462) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts (33-10-1176) · grades: TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).