Photo: Wolfmum · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Cold Lake top those of 89% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 7.8% of Cold Lake’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Jobs were held by 75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Cold Lake in 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Cold Lake is the usual workplace of 6,610 people, and 5,690 of its own residents commute to a job.
What the numbers say about work in Cold Lake
Higher incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $104,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
6,610 people work in Cold Lake and 5,690 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.2% take an hour or more. The trip 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 Cold Lake: A
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #39 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.
Household income in Cold Lake: $104,600 at the median
Cold Lake’s median is 13% above the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). One of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 12 has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Cold Lake fills up on a working day: 15% more workers
About 2 people arrive to work in Cold Lake for each resident who goes out. 86% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Cold Lake has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 21.1 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.8 minutes. In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 52% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 6.2%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
1,734 people come into Cold Lake to work, most from Bonnyville No. 87 and Beaver River No. 622
- Bonnyville No. 871,135
- Beaver River No. 622105
- Bonnyville100
- Edmonton70
- Pierceland55
- Calgary20
- Strathcona County20
- St. Paul20
- Halifax15
- St. Paul County No. 1915
- Bonnyville460
- Bonnyville No. 87110
- Fort McMurray30
- Edmonton25
- Cold Lake 14920
- Kehewin 12320
- Pierceland15
- St. Paul County No. 1915
- Lac la Biche County15
- Saskatoon10
Of everyone working in Cold Lake, 26% come in from elsewhere; 1,135 make the 32 km trip from Bonnyville No. 87. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Bonnyville (460).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Cold Lake work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Work and the working-age population of Cold Lake
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 12, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 71% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 74%. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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 6.2% of Cold Lake’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 6.8%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.4% of commuters, against 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.
In Census Division No. 12, 12% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
At its peak, in July 2021, 4,190 people were on EI, 2.2 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.2 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 17%.
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. 12. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
On getting around on foot, Cold Lake grades B+
Better than 74% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #314 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
48th of 516: where Cold Lake ranks among Canadian towns of 12,500 to 24,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 3 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Canmore Alberta | 17,341 | 79% | 9.7% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 75% | 11% | $98K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Lakeview Alberta | 12,799 | 75% | 11% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Petawawa Ontario | 19,606 | 71% | 6.3% | $102K | A |
| 47 | Chapel Hill South Ontario | 14,278 | 77% | 7.7% | $143K | A |
| 48 | Cold Lake Alberta | 17,798 | 75% | 7.8% | $105K | A |
| 49 | Stittsville North Ontario | 13,331 | 78% | 8.3% | $133K | A |
| 50 | Westmount Quebec | 20,377 | 77% | 7.7% | $118K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 516 | Oakridge Ontario | 13,913 | 51% | 21% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Cold Lake, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around Cold Lake
Cold Lake has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 32–75 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Lake | 75% | 7.8% | $105K | 21.1 min | A | B+ |
| Bonnyville No. 87 31.6 km | 72% | 10% | $113K | 28.9 min | B− | C− |
| Bonnyville 39 km | 72% | 10% | $85K | 18.7 min | B+ | A− |
| Kehewin 123 55.6 km | 37% | 32% | $67K | 17.8 min | C− | D− |
| Beaver River No. 622 61.4 km | 83% | 10% | $72K | 29.1 min | B− | D |
| Elk Point 75.1 km | 72% | 11% | $79K | 20.8 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 Cold Lake, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Cold Lake
How do people in Cold Lake get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 1.4% take public transit, 4.3% walk and 0.5% cycle; on census day 6.8% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Cold Lake?
21.1 minutes is the average trip, with 52% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Cold Lake work?
Most stay: 86% work in Cold Lake. The rest go first to Bonnyville (460) and Bonnyville No. 87 (110).
How many jobs are there in Cold Lake?
The 2021 census counted about 6,610 people working in Cold Lake: 1.2 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 617 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Cold Lake?
The census put unemployment at 7.8% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake economic region at 5.6%.
What is the average household income in Cold Lake?
Before tax, half the households in Cold Lake had more than $104,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · 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).