Households in Palliser have higher incomes than those in 68% of Canadian towns
Working at home: 37% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Palliser counted 74% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Out of work in May 2021: 13% of Palliser’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Palliser
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 13% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.6%. Unemployment ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 37% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 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.
Jobs & income in Palliser: graded B
Better than 60% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #205 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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 Palliser were working in 2021
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 92 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 53%. Counting retirees, 46% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. In October 2026, 67% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Without a car, 8.8% of Palliser’s commuters get to work
By bus, train or subway: 4.2%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 4.6% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. The car takes 86% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Median household income in Palliser: $86,000 in 2020
117 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Palliser sits 7% below. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%.
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. 6. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Getting around Palliser on foot earns A
Better than 92% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #155 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Palliser is 285th of 727 Canadian towns of 3,500 to 6,700 people for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 283 | Napierville Quebec | 4,187 | 80% | 5.2% | $80K | B |
| 284 | East Lawrencetown Nova Scotia | 4,020 | 79% | 8.3% | $108K | B |
| 285 | Palliser Alberta | 4,987 | 74% | 13% | $86K | B |
| 286 | Carman Manitoba | 3,547 | 80% | 5.2% | $67K | B |
| 287 | Sunrise Estates British Columbia | 4,292 | 73% | 6.6% | $119K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 727 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Palliser, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Palliser, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palliser | 74% | 13% | $86K | 23.2 min | B | A |
| Braeside 1.3 km | 75% | 12% | $92K | 27.6 min | B− | A |
| Oakridge 1.4 km | 75% | 11% | $119K | 23.2 min | A | A− |
| Cedarbrae 1.6 km | 74% | 14% | $90K | 26 min | B− | A− |
| Haysboro 2.1 km | 76% | 13% | $78K | 23.9 min | B− | A+ |
| Southwood 2.2 km | 68% | 17% | $82K | 27.1 min | C | A+ |
| Woodlands 2.6 km | 72% | 14% | $102K | 26.1 min | B | 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 Palliser, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Palliser’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Palliser
What is the average household income in Palliser?
The median household in Palliser had $86,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Palliser get to work?
86% of commuters drive, 4.2% take public transit and 4.6% walk; 37% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Palliser?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Calgary has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Palliser?
Two figures answer it: 13% 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.
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).