Photo: Dwayne Reilander · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Acadia have jobs less often than in 64% of Canadian towns
Workers in Acadia spend 22.6 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). Median household income in Acadia was $73,500 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Out of work in May 2021: 14% of Acadia’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Acadia
More unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 14% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 22.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Acadia earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #327 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.
72% of working-age people in Acadia have jobs
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 71 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 68%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 58%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 67% in October 2026. 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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 17% of Acadia’s commuters
The car takes 80% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Home was the workplace for 24%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. By bus, train or subway: 11%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 5.9% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Household income in Acadia
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Acadia’s median is 20% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 147 have a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
In Census Division No. 6, 35% more people receive EI than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 97,600, the most in the series and 3.2 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for Census Division No. 6, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Acadia on foot: a A+ grade
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #43 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
408th of 651: where Acadia ranks among Canadian towns of 7,000 to 13,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 76% | 7.9% | $99K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 406 | North Glengarry Ontario | 10,772 | 78% | 7.6% | $71K | C+ |
| 407 | Carson Grove - Carson Meadows Ontario | 11,290 | 70% | 9.9% | $87K | C+ |
| 408 | Acadia Alberta | 9,950 | 72% | 14% | $74K | C+ |
| 409 | Hanover Ontario | 8,723 | 73% | 9.5% | $69K | C+ |
| 410 | Mountview Ontario | 7,752 | 69% | 12% | $91K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 651 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Acadia, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Acadia: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acadia | 72% | 14% | $74K | 22.6 min | C+ | A+ |
| Fairview 1 km | 73% | 12% | $85K | 23.4 min | B | A+ |
| Willow Park 1.5 km | 72% | 11% | $114K | 21.1 min | A− | A |
| Haysboro 1.7 km | 76% | 13% | $78K | 23.9 min | B− | A+ |
| Kingsland 2 km | 72% | 14% | $66K | 24.4 min | C− | A+ |
| Riverbend 2.8 km | 75% | 12% | $120K | 21.8 min | A | A− |
| Southwood 3 km | 68% | 17% | $82K | 27.1 min | C | A+ |
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 Acadia, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Acadia’s figures add those up. Calgary’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Acadia
What is the unemployment rate in Acadia?
Two figures answer it: 14% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.6% for the Calgary metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Acadia?
At $73,500 before tax in 2020, the median household in Acadia compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Acadia get to work?
By car: 80% of commuters, 11% take public transit, 5.9% walk and 0.3% cycle; on census day 24% of those in work worked from home.
How many jobs are there in Acadia?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Calgary’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).