Photo: Markus Säynevirta · CC BY-SA 4.0Earning a living in Fairview
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 7.6% of Fairview’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Fairview takes 16.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 7.5%. 1,415 people have their usual place of work in Fairview, against 1,060 residents who travel to a job.
The work figures that set Fairview apart
A local job centre
With 1,415 jobs based in Fairview and 1,060 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.5% last an hour or longer. 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.
Jobs and income in Fairview earn A−
Better than 80% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #73 of 474 in Alberta.
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.
Fairview fills up on a working day: 31% more workers
For every resident who leaves Fairview for work, about 3 people come in. 84% 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.
Time on the road to work from Fairview
In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 75%, more than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.6 minutes.
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.
522 people come into Fairview to work, most from Fairview No. 136 and Clear Hills
- Fairview No. 136300
- Clear Hills95
- Grande Prairie County No. 130
- Peace No. 13530
- Hines Creek15
- Grande Prairie15
- Edmonton10
- Peace River10
- Hines Creek50
- Peace River25
- Grimshaw25
- Clear Hills15
- Grande Prairie15
- Fairview No. 13610
- Dawson Creek10
37% of the people who work in Fairview live outside it, 300 of them in Fairview No. 136, 4 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Hines Creek (50).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Fairview, 74% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 19, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 63%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 58% were working. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Median household income in Fairview: $80,700 in 2020
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 19 has a higher median. Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Fairview’s median is 13% below. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 8.7% of Fairview’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. Only 5.8% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in Census Division No. 19 run 5% above their 2019 level
Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across Census Division No. 19, with Fairview one part of it.
The highest month was January 2021: 8,300 people, 3.1 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.8 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 7%.
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).
Fairview on foot: a A− grade
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #283 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Fairview is 133rd of 553 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 131 | Saint-Thomas Quebec | 3,477 | 83% | 6.1% | $78K | A− |
| 132 | Saint-Paul-d'Abbotsford Quebec | 2,891 | 81% | 4.2% | $79K | A− |
| 133 | Fairview Alberta | 2,918 | 74% | 7.6% | $81K | A− |
| 134 | Suder Greens Alberta | 2,928 | 74% | 13% | $109K | A− |
| 135 | Ange-Gardien Quebec | 3,100 | 89% | 3.3% | $80K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fairview, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Around Fairview: jobs, pay and the commute
Fairview has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 4–49 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview | 74% | 7.6% | $81K | 16.2 min | A− | A− |
| Fairview No. 136 4 km | 81% | 7.5% | $97K | 23 min | A | D− |
| Clear Hills 35.8 km | 75% | 8.4% | $67K | 28.7 min | C− | D |
| Birch Hills County 36.9 km | 61% | 0% | $68K | 28.4 min | D | C |
| Grimshaw 49.5 km | 73% | 12% | $87K | 22.1 min | B | 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 Fairview, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Fairview
How long is the commute from Fairview?
About 16.2 minutes on average, with 75% under a quarter-hour and 7.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fairview work?
Most stay: 84% work in Fairview. The rest go first to Hines Creek (50) and Peace River (25).
How many jobs are there in Fairview?
Some 1,415 people worked in Fairview at the 2021 census: 1.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 260 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Fairview?
The census put unemployment at 7.6% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region at 5.6%.
What is the average household income in Fairview?
Fairview’s middle household had $80,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Fairview get to work?
Driving takes 91% of commuters to work, 8.7% walk, and on census day 5.8% of those in work were at home.
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).