Photo: Wilson Hui from Calgary, Canada · CC BY 2.0Households in Falher earn less than those in 64% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Falher stood at 12% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Jobs located in Falher: 495, for 300 residents with a usual workplace. 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Falher had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Falher: the figures worth knowing
Lower incomes than most towns
At $70,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
495 people work in Falher and 300 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 19 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.8% 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.
Falher grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 48% 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.
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.
The median household in Falher had $70,800 in 2020
Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 19 has a higher median. That puts Falher 23% below the median of Alberta’s towns, $92,250. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
Every working day, Falher’s workforce grows by 56%
About 4 people arrive to work in Falher for each resident who goes out. The job is inside the municipality for 78% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Falher has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 19 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 16.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 6.8%.
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.
260 people come into Falher to work, most from Smoky River No. 130 and Donnelly
- Smoky River No. 130130
- Donnelly55
- Girouxville50
- McLennan20
- Big Lakes County10
- McLennan40
- High Prairie10
- Valleyview10
- Smoky River No. 13010
Of everyone working in Falher, 53% come in from elsewhere; 130 make the 8 km trip from Smoky River No. 130. The main destination the other way is McLennan, with 40.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Falher
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 19, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 66%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 59%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Without a car, 16% of Falher’s commuters get to work
The car takes 82% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 19 run 5% above their 2019 level
Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for Census Division No. 19 as a whole, not for Falher alone.
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.8 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 7%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 8,300 people, 3.1 times the 2019 average.
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 Falher: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Falher
Distances here run 8–56 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Falher.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falher | 72% | 12% | $71K | 19 min | B− | A+ |
| Smoky River No. 130 7.6 km | 83% | 7% | $89K | 29.1 min | B+ | D |
| Northern Sunrise County 49 km | 80% | 6.2% | $100K | 25.7 min | A− | D− |
| Birch Hills County 51.9 km | 61% | 0% | $68K | 28.4 min | D | C |
| Peace No. 135 54.6 km | 69% | 9.4% | $96K | 24.9 min | B− | C |
| High Prairie 55.7 km | 76% | 12% | $88K | 14.9 min | A | 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 Falher, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
Questions about work in Falher
Where do people in Falher work?
Most stay: 78% work in Falher. The rest go first to McLennan (40) and High Prairie (10).
How many jobs are there in Falher?
The 2021 census found about 495 people with their usual workplace in Falher, or 1.7 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 154 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Falher?
The 2021 census found 12% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River economic region, is 5.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Falher?
Falher’s middle household had $70,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Falher get to work?
82% of commuters drive, 16% walk; 12% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Falher?
The average commute is 19 minutes; 64% of trips take under 15 minutes and 6.8% an hour or more.
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).