Working-age people in Redwater are less likely to have a job than in 90% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 16% of Redwater’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Jobs located in Redwater: 1,255, for 455 residents with a usual workplace. Half the households in Redwater had more than $79,200 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What Redwater’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 50% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 63%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
16% 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 ↓
A local job centre
1,255 people work in Redwater and 455 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 19% 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.
Redwater grades D for jobs and income
Better than 10% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Work for 63% of 15-to-64s in Redwater
Of the 212 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 35 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 50%: many residents are past working age. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 64% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 59% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
On a working day, 1,370 people work in Redwater, 2.4 times its working residents
Each resident commuting out of Redwater is matched by about 4 coming in. Of those who commute, 45% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Longer than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Redwater average 31.4 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 31.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 37%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. 19% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Alberta’s towns has 7%.
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.
1,050 people come into Redwater to work, most from Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan
Of everyone working in Redwater, 84% come in from elsewhere; 250 make the 55 km trip from Edmonton. Going the other way, Edmonton is the biggest single destination (60).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Redwater
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 54% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, Redwater sits 14% below. Of the 212 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 11, 160 have a higher median. 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).
9.7% of commuters in Redwater walk, cycle or take transit
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 7.6% against 2.5%. 85% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Home was the workplace for 14%, under the 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. 11 run 30% above their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 97,990 people on EI, 3.1 times 2019’s average. That is about 4.2 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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).
The Walkability grade for Redwater: A
Better than 92% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in and around Redwater
Redwater has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 20–23 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redwater | 63% | 16% | $79K | 31.4 min | D | A |
| Gibbons 20.3 km | 71% | 12% | $108K | 31.4 min | C+ | B+ |
| Bruderheim 20.6 km | 69% | 15% | $97K | 32.7 min | C | B+ |
| Thorhild County 22.6 km | 83% | 8% | $74K | 34.2 min | C+ | C− |
| Bon Accord 23.1 km | 70% | 13% | $103K | 33.6 min | C | B |
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 Redwater, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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. 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 Redwater
How do people in Redwater get to work?
85% of commuters go by car, 7.6% walk and 2.1% cycle. On census day 14% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Redwater?
On average 31.4 minutes; 37% take under 15 minutes and 19% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Redwater work?
Only 45% work in Redwater itself; the rest go first to Edmonton (60) and Fort Saskatchewan (40).
How many jobs are there in Redwater?
About 1,255 people had their usual place of work in Redwater at the 2021 census, 2.8 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 107 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Redwater?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Edmonton metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 16%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Redwater?
Before tax, half the households in Redwater had more than $79,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).