Households in Fraser have higher incomes than those in 82% of Canadian towns
Residents of Fraser take 24.5 minutes to reach work on average; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, Fraser matches the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 11% of Fraser’s labour force without a job, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work figures that set Fraser apart
Work near the middle
The 2021 census found 73% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 60%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Census day in 2021 put 11% 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.
Fraser grades B for jobs and income
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #193 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 Fraser
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 122 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 64% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 67%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 60% were working. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
What households earned in Fraser: $96,200 in 2020
95 of the 211 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 11 have a higher median. The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Fraser is 4% above it. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
9.1% of commuters from Fraser go without a car
Home was the workplace for 15%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 7.3%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns, at 88%.
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.
30% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 11 than in 2019
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Fraser alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 11.
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 5%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 97,990 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.2 are on 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).
Walking in Fraser earns A−
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Fraser ranks: 283rd of 766 Canadian towns of 2,800 to 5,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 281 | Glenridding Heights Alberta | 4,388 | 76% | 8.9% | $119K | B |
| 282 | Port Hardy British Columbia | 4,201 | 74% | 10% | $69K | B |
| 283 | Fraser Alberta | 3,973 | 73% | 11% | $96K | B |
| 284 | Haddow Alberta | 4,026 | 72% | 12% | $147K | B |
| 285 | Hudson Alberta | 3,634 | 72% | 11% | $96K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 766 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 58% | 14% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fraser, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How Fraser compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser | 73% | 11% | $96K | 24.5 min | B | A− |
| Bannerman 0.9 km | 59% | 15% | $80K | 27 min | C− | A |
| Kirkness 0.9 km | 69% | 11% | $89K | 27.1 min | C+ | A |
| Edmonton Energy And Technology Park 1.3 km | 59% | 15% | $84K | 27 min | C− | B− |
| Kernohan 1.8 km | 67% | 14% | $98K | 27.2 min | C+ | A |
| Miller 2.2 km | 74% | 13% | $101K | 27.7 min | B− | B+ |
| Clareview Town Centre 2.4 km | 70% | 17% | $79K | 29.5 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 Fraser, 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Fraser’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 Fraser
What is the average household income in Fraser?
Before tax, half the households in Fraser had more than $96,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Fraser get to work?
Driving takes 88% of commuters to work, 7.3% take public transit and 1.8% walk, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Fraser?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Edmonton has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Fraser?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Edmonton metro area at 7.1% in October 2026.
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).