Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Garneau have lower incomes than those in 91% of Canadian towns
38% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. At 22.3 minutes on average, the trip to work from Garneau compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Of Garneau’s residents aged 15 to 64, 64% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Garneau, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 64% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 58%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 13% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $58,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 22.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
38% 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.
Garneau grades D for jobs and income
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
A place this unusual is graded but left out of the rankings.
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 Garneau have a job: 64% of 15-to-64s
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 44 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 67% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
The median household in Garneau had $58,500 in 2020
Garneau’s median is 37% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). 203 of the 211 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 11 have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 43% of commuters in Garneau
Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 55% against 88%. By bus, train or subway: 10%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 30% of commuters, well above the 2.5% 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
That works out to around 4.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 97,990 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average.
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).
Garneau earns A+ for walkability
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Around Garneau: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garneau | 64% | 13% | $59K | 22.3 min | D | A+ |
| Queen Alexandra 1 km | 67% | 14% | $57K | 23.7 min | D | A+ |
| McKernan 1.1 km | 68% | 16% | $95K | 21.1 min | B | A+ |
| Strathcona 1.7 km | 79% | 12% | $65K | 24.4 min | C+ | A+ |
| Belgravia 1.9 km | 79% | 9.2% | $128K | 23.7 min | A | A |
| Allendale 2.2 km | 69% | 14% | $83K | 23 min | B− | A+ |
| Downtown 2.4 km | 76% | 13% | $68K | 23.6 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 Garneau, 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. 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.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- 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. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Garneau’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Edmonton’s page.
Questions about work in Garneau
What is the average household income in Garneau?
Garneau’s middle household had $58,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Garneau get to work?
Driving takes 55% of commuters to work, 10% take public transit, 30% walk and 2.4% cycle, and on census day 38% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Garneau?
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 Garneau?
The 2021 census found 13% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Edmonton metro area, is 7.1% (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).