Photo: CnekYT · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Westgate earn more than those in 86% of Canadian towns
At the 2021 census, 74% of Westgate’s 15-to-64s were in work, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Workers in Westgate spend 23.3 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns).
The short version on work in Westgate
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 74% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 58%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $100,700 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Westgate grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #108 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.
The median household in Westgate had $100,700 in 2020
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6, 83 have a higher median. That puts Westgate 9% above the median 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).
How many in Westgate were working in 2021
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 97 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 67% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 65% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 58% of residents 15 and over were in work. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Leaving the car at home: 9.1% of commuters in Westgate
82% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
35% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Westgate shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of Census Division No. 6.
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 97,600 people on EI, 3.2 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI.
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).
The walkability of Westgate: A
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Westgate is 180th of 639 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 178 | Vanscoy No. 345 Saskatchewan | 3,029 | 85% | 5.8% | $104K | A− |
| 179 | Electoral Area B, North Okanagan British Columbia | 3,415 | 75% | 6.4% | $83K | A− |
| 180 | Westgate Alberta | 3,139 | 74% | 9.9% | $101K | A− |
| 181 | Sainte-Claire Quebec | 3,724 | 82% | 3.5% | $72K | B+ |
| 182 | Three Hills Alberta | 3,502 | 75% | 12% | $76K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Westgate, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around Westgate
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westgate | 74% | 9.9% | $101K | 23.3 min | A− | A |
| Rosscarrock 0.9 km | 72% | 14% | $69K | 28.8 min | C− | A+ |
| Wildwood 1.6 km | 77% | 8.7% | $121K | 23 min | A | A |
| Glenbrook 1.6 km | 71% | 11% | $89K | 24.1 min | B− | A+ |
| Strathcona Park 1.7 km | 69% | 14% | $157K | 25.3 min | B | A |
| Spruce Cliff 1.8 km | 69% | 13% | $74K | 24.9 min | C− | A+ |
| Signal Hill 1.9 km | 70% | 12% | $119K | 25 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 Westgate, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Westgate’s figures add those up. Calgary’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Westgate
What is the average household income in Westgate?
The census puts Westgate at $100,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Westgate get to work?
82% of commuters drive, 9.1% take public transit; 28% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Westgate?
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 Westgate?
The census put unemployment at 9.9% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Calgary metro area at 6.6%.
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).