Photo: Rowanswiki · CC0Households in Ottewell have higher incomes than those in 78% of Canadian towns
Commutes from Ottewell average 24 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. 74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Ottewell had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Ottewell at work: what stands out
Work near the middle
With 74% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 59% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
11% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 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 Ottewell: graded B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #144 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 Ottewell were working in 2021
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 142 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 66% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Counting retirees, 59% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 64% in work in October 2026. 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.
Ottewell households: $91,700 a year at the median
111 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 Ottewell is 1% below it. 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).
Without a car, 11% of Ottewell’s commuters get to work
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 5.6% against 2.5%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 83% against 88%. 25% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 4.9%, 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).
30% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 11 than in 2019
Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across Census Division No. 11, with Ottewell one part of it.
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. That works out to around 4.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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).
The walkability of Ottewell: A
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #123 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ottewell is 237th of 697 Canadian towns of 5,600 to 10,900 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 235 | Industrial Ontario | 6,690 | 76% | 9.9% | $121K | B+ |
| 236 | Sundance Alberta | 9,043 | 72% | 11% | $136K | B+ |
| 237 | Ottewell Alberta | 8,040 | 74% | 11% | $92K | B+ |
| 238 | Greenview No. 16 Alberta | 8,984 | 73% | 11% | $98K | B+ |
| 239 | Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Ontario | 7,052 | 82% | 5.1% | $78K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 697 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Ottewell, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Ottewell, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottewell | 74% | 11% | $92K | 24 min | B+ | A |
| Holyrood 1.1 km | 72% | 14% | $95K | 24.8 min | B− | A− |
| Gold Bar 1.9 km | 73% | 12% | $104K | 22.3 min | A− | A− |
| Forest Heights 1.9 km | 74% | 14% | $89K | 23.8 min | B | A− |
| King Edward Park 1.9 km | 72% | 13% | $82K | 24.5 min | C+ | A |
| Capilano 2.2 km | 77% | 11% | $118K | 23.1 min | A | A− |
| Bonnie Doon 2.6 km | 73% | 11% | $74K | 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 Ottewell, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. 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. Ottewell’s census figures are summed from its dissemination areas. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages are published only for the whole municipality, so they are on Edmonton’s page.
Questions about work in Ottewell
What is the unemployment rate in Ottewell?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Edmonton metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Ottewell?
At $91,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Ottewell compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Ottewell get to work?
By car: 83% of commuters, 4.9% take public transit, 5.6% walk and 0.9% cycle; on census day 25% of those in work worked from home.
How many jobs are there in Ottewell?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Edmonton’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
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).