Photo: Rural Health Professions Action Plan from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada · CC BY 2.0Fewer of Elk Point’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 66% of Canadian towns
665 people have their usual place of work in Elk Point, against 405 residents who travel to a job. Before tax, the typical household in Elk Point brought in $79,400 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. The 2021 census put unemployment in Elk Point at 11%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Elk Point
A local job centre
665 people work in Elk Point and 405 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.2% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Elk Point grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 54% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
A working day adds 58% to the people at work in Elk Point
Each resident commuting out of Elk Point is matched by about 3 coming in. 65% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
20.8 minutes from Elk Point to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
An hour or more: 5.2% of commuters, under the 7% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.4 minutes. The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 55% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
403 people come into Elk Point to work, most from St. Paul County No. 19 and St. Paul
Of everyone working in Elk Point, 61% come in from elsewhere; 200 make the 33 km trip from St. Paul County No. 19. The main destination the other way is St. Paul, with 45.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Elk Point have a job: 72% of 15-to-64s
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 12, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 59% of residents 15 and over were in work. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 71% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 67% of residents that age. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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 Elk Point earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 54% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Alberta’s towns is $92,250, and Elk Point is 14% below it. Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 12, 6 have a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 8.6% of Elk Point’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 7.1% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, 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).
12% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 12 than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 12, Elk Point included.
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 17%. July 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,190 people on EI, 2.2 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).
Elk Point earns A− for walkability
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Elk Point and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Elk Point with figures are 23–49 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Point | 72% | 11% | $79K | 20.8 min | B− | A− |
| Kehewin 123 22.6 km | 37% | 32% | $67K | 17.8 min | C− | D− |
| St. Paul 27.6 km | 75% | 6.2% | $80K | 17.1 min | A− | A− |
| St. Paul County No. 19 33.3 km | 82% | 5.2% | $87K | 26.9 min | B+ | D |
| Bonnyville 42.5 km | 72% | 10% | $85K | 18.7 min | B+ | A− |
| Bonnyville No. 87 49.4 km | 72% | 10% | $113K | 28.9 min | B− | C− |
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 Elk Point, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Elk Point
What is the average household income in Elk Point?
At $79,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Elk Point compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Elk Point get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 8.6% walk; on census day 7.1% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Elk Point?
20.8 minutes is the average trip, with 55% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 5.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Elk Point work?
Most stay: 65% work in Elk Point. The rest go first to St. Paul (45) and Bonnyville (40).
How many jobs are there in Elk Point?
The 2021 census counted about 665 people working in Elk Point: 1.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 128 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Elk Point?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% for the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · 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).