Photo: Kurayba · CC BY-SA 2.0Brookside ranks among the highest-earning Canadian towns by household income
The 2021 census put unemployment in Brookside at 8.6%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Home was the workplace for 35% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. At the 2021 census, 80% of Brookside’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Brookside apart
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 80% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 57%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $140,600 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
35% 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.
Brookside grades A+ for jobs and income
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #14 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 Brookside were working in 2021
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 205 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 64% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 62%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 57%: many residents are past working age. 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.
Median household income in Brookside: $140,600 in 2020
The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Brookside is 52% above it. Of the 211 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 11, 8 have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 12% of Brookside’s commuters
By transit: 10% of commuters, well above the 5.7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. 81% drive to work, fewer than 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).
In Census Division No. 11, 30% more people receive EI than in 2019
At its peak, in January 2021, 97,990 people were on EI, 3.1 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 4.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%.
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. 11. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Brookside on foot: a A− grade
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #245 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Brookside next to Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,300: 36th of 666 on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Beaumont Quebec | 3,188 | 85% | 4.6% | $100K | A+ |
| 35 | Moosomin Saskatchewan | 2,906 | 81% | 4.5% | $83K | A+ |
| 36 | Brookside Alberta | 3,173 | 80% | 8.6% | $141K | A+ |
| 37 | Adelaide-Metcalfe Ontario | 3,196 | 86% | 5.9% | $107K | A+ |
| 38 | Russell-Binscarth Manitoba | 2,715 | 85% | 6.9% | $80K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 666 | 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 Brookside, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Brookside
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookside | 80% | 8.6% | $141K | 24 min | A+ | A− |
| Ramsay Heights 1 km | 73% | 13% | $98K | 27 min | B− | A |
| Bulyea Heights 1.2 km | 76% | 11% | $169K | 24.5 min | A− | C+ |
| Westbrook Estates 1.6 km | 75% | 11% | $140K | 24.2 min | A− | B+ |
| Royal Gardens 2.2 km | 69% | 15% | $82K | 28.8 min | C− | A+ |
| Malmo Plains 2.5 km | 67% | 13% | $104K | 25 min | B− | A+ |
| Rhatigan Ridge 2.5 km | 77% | 9.7% | $161K | 24 min | A | B |
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 Brookside, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Brookside’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Edmonton’s page.
Questions about work in Brookside
How many jobs are there in Brookside?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Edmonton’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
What is the unemployment rate in Brookside?
At the 2021 census 8.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Edmonton metro area, gives 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Brookside?
Brookside’s middle household had $140,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Brookside get to work?
By car: 81% of commuters, 10% take public transit and 1.5% walk; on census day 35% of those in work worked from 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).