Photo: LaserToaster5 · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Kirkness than in 74% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Kirkness had more than $88,700 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. On average, people in Kirkness spend 27.1 minutes getting to work, next to 26 for the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment in Kirkness stood at 11% on census day 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Kirkness’ work numbers say
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 69% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 62% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 11% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 7.1%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Kirkness grades C+ for jobs and income
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #348 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.
How many in Kirkness have a job: 69% of 15-to-64s
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 87 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 70% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 64% in October 2026. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
What households in Kirkness earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 72% of Canadian towns.
123 of the 211 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 11 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Kirkness sits 4% below. 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).
Leaving the car at home: 13% of commuters in Kirkness
Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car takes 85% of commuters here, under 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).
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
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.2 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%. In January 2021 it reached 97,990, the most in the series and 3.1 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of 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).
On getting around on foot, Kirkness grades A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #184 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Kirkness is 470th among 701 Canadian towns of 3,700 to 7,100
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Neepawa Manitoba | 6,328 | 85% | 2.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Richmond Alberta | 4,811 | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 468 | Espanola Ontario | 5,504 | 67% | 9.4% | $77K | C+ |
| 469 | Heritage Park Ontario | 6,369 | 69% | 14% | $74K | C+ |
| 470 | Kirkness Alberta | 5,279 | 69% | 11% | $89K | C+ |
| 471 | Beresford New Brunswick | 4,389 | 69% | 12% | $67K | C+ |
| 472 | Mayland Heights Alberta | 5,937 | 69% | 14% | $75K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 701 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Kirkness, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Kirkness: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkness | 69% | 11% | $89K | 27.1 min | C+ | A |
| Fraser 0.9 km | 73% | 11% | $96K | 24.5 min | B | A− |
| Bannerman 1 km | 59% | 15% | $80K | 27 min | C− | A |
| Edmonton Energy And Technology Park 1.1 km | 59% | 15% | $84K | 27 min | C− | B− |
| Miller 1.3 km | 74% | 13% | $101K | 27.7 min | B− | B+ |
| Brintnell 1.7 km | 70% | 12% | $118K | 27.1 min | B− | A |
| Clareview Town Centre 1.7 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 Kirkness, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Kirkness’ figures add those up. Edmonton’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Kirkness
What is the average household income in Kirkness?
At $88,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Kirkness compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Kirkness get to work?
85% of commuters drive, 11% take public transit and 1.9% walk; 16% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Kirkness?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Edmonton as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Kirkness?
The 2021 census found 11% 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).