Few Canadian towns have household incomes as high as Sundance’s
The 2021 census found 72% of working-age people in Sundance employed, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. On census day, 32% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Out of work in May 2021: 11% of Sundance’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Sundance apart on jobs and income
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $135,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Many work from home
32% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% 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.
On jobs and income, Sundance grades B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #142 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.
$135,600 a year: the median household in Sundance
The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Sundance is 47% above it. 18 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 6 have a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
Without a car, 8.3% of Sundance’s commuters get to work
By bus, train or subway: 5.4%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns, at 88%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In and out of work in Sundance
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 63 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 67% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 65%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 57%: many residents are past working age. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Sundance alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 6.
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Everyday places on foot in Sundance: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #294 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Sundance ranks: 220th of 673 Canadian towns of 6,300 to 12,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Peace River Alberta | 7,220 | 76% | 7.9% | $99K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 218 | Pineview Ontario | 6,346 | 69% | 11% | $101K | B+ |
| 219 | Industrial Ontario | 6,690 | 76% | 9.9% | $121K | B+ |
| 220 | Sundance Alberta | 9,043 | 72% | 11% | $136K | B+ |
| 221 | St. Andrews Manitoba | 12,021 | 78% | 6.2% | $107K | B+ |
| 222 | Ottewell Alberta | 8,040 | 74% | 11% | $92K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 673 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sundance, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to Sundance
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundance | 72% | 11% | $136K | 25.4 min | B+ | A− |
| Chaparral 2 km | 73% | 12% | $140K | 26.8 min | B | A− |
| Midnapore 2.5 km | 75% | 13% | $92K | 26.6 min | B | A |
| Parkland 2.5 km | 73% | 9.5% | $139K | 24.5 min | A− | B− |
| Shawnessy 3 km | 71% | 13% | $110K | 29.1 min | B− | A+ |
| Walden 3.1 km | 75% | 11% | $113K | 28.6 min | B | A− |
| Somerset 3.1 km | 70% | 13% | $100K | 29.9 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 Sundance, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Sundance’s figures add those up. Calgary’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Sundance
How many jobs are there in Sundance?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Calgary as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Sundance?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Calgary metro area at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Sundance?
At $135,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Sundance compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sundance get to work?
Driving takes 88% of commuters to work, 5.4% take public transit and 2.9% walk, and on census day 32% of those in work were at home.
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).