Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin · CC BY 2.0Varsity has higher household incomes than 76% of Canadian towns
On census day, 38% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs were held by 70% of people aged 15 to 64 in Varsity in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment in Varsity stood at 13% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Varsity
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 ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 23 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 38% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Varsity: B
Better than 55% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #229 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.
Work and the working-age population of Varsity
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 47 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 60% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 67% 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 18% of Varsity’s commuters
The middle of Alberta’s towns has 2.5% walking; here, 7.1% do. 75% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Transit takes 8.5% of commuters, above the 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Half the households in Varsity had more than $90,700 in 2020
Varsity’s median is 2% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 102 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 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. 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).
Varsity on foot: a A+ grade
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #68 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Varsity places 258th of 614 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 8,800 to 17,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Lakeview Alberta | 12,799 | 75% | 11% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Lake Bonavista Alberta | 11,154 | 76% | 11% | $138K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 256 | Westminster Ontario | 10,794 | 65% | 14% | $89K | B |
| 257 | Old Hunt Club Ontario | 16,270 | 70% | 12% | $101K | B |
| 258 | Varsity Alberta | 12,605 | 70% | 13% | $91K | B |
| 259 | Cavan Monaghan Ontario | 11,507 | 76% | 9.2% | $110K | B |
| 260 | West Lincoln Ontario | 16,586 | 76% | 8.3% | $106K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 614 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Varsity, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Jobs near Varsity: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varsity | 70% | 13% | $91K | 23 min | B | A+ |
| Dalhousie 1.9 km | 65% | 13% | $89K | 24.4 min | C+ | A+ |
| Brentwood 2 km | 72% | 12% | $87K | 24.2 min | B− | A+ |
| Montgomery 2.1 km | 75% | 12% | $90K | 23.2 min | B+ | A+ |
| University Heights 2.5 km | 69% | 15% | $71K | 23.9 min | C− | A+ |
| Bowness 2.8 km | 70% | 13% | $71K | 27.7 min | C− | A |
| Silver Springs 3.1 km | 72% | 13% | $112K | 24.7 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 Varsity, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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.
- 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. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Varsity’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Calgary’s page.
Questions about work in Varsity
How do people in Varsity get to work?
75% of commuters drive, 8.5% take public transit, 7.1% walk and 2.1% cycle; 38% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Varsity?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Calgary as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Varsity?
The 2021 census found 13% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Calgary metro area, is 6.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Varsity?
Before tax, half the households in Varsity had more than $90,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).