Photo: KMW2700 from Edmonton, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Calder trails that of 87% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Calder reached 16%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Median household income in Calder was $73,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Residents of Calder take 24.7 minutes to reach work on average; the middle of Canadian towns is 26.
What Calder’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 64% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 52%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 16% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Calder: graded C−
Better than 20% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #422 of 474 in Alberta.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
In Calder, 64% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 48 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 52% were working. Counting those looking for work too, 62% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
How Calder’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 11, 179 have a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Calder is 21% below it. 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 9% of Calder’s commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 86% against 88%. Only 12% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 7.8%, 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.
EI claims in Census Division No. 11 run 30% above their 2019 level
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Calder alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 11.
At its peak, in January 2021, 97,990 people were on EI, 3.1 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.2 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, 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. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in Calder: graded A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #181 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 724 Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,700, Calder comes 581st on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 579 | Edmonton Energy And Technology Park Alberta | 5,225 | 59% | 15% | $84K | C− |
| 580 | Balfour Ontario | 4,171 | 66% | 12% | $80K | C− |
| 581 | Calder Alberta | 4,221 | 64% | 16% | $73K | C− |
| 582 | East Angus Quebec | 4,261 | 72% | 6.4% | $60K | C− |
| 583 | Clear Hills Alberta | 3,110 | 75% | 8.4% | $67K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 724 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Calder, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How Calder compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calder | 64% | 16% | $73K | 24.7 min | C− | A |
| Kensington 0.7 km | 64% | 14% | $83K | 21.6 min | C+ | A |
| Carlisle 1.6 km | 62% | 15% | $83K | 25.4 min | C | A |
| Sherbrooke 1.6 km | 65% | 17% | $78K | 24.2 min | C | A+ |
| Athlone 1.7 km | 70% | 10% | $90K | 24.9 min | B− | A− |
| Lauderdale 1.7 km | 57% | 16% | $78K | 24.7 min | C− | A |
| Wellington 2 km | 65% | 14% | $84K | 25.4 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 Calder, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. 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.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Calder’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Edmonton’s page.
Questions about work in Calder
How many jobs are there in Calder?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Edmonton as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Calder?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Edmonton metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 16%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Calder?
Calder’s middle household had $73,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Calder get to work?
By car: 86% of commuters, 7.8% take public transit and 1.2% walk; on census day 12% 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).