Photo: Peter Vaitkunas · Public domainEarning a living in St. Paul
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 6.2% of St. Paul’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. From St. Paul, the drive or ride to work averages 17.1 minutes, with 4.1% going an hour or longer. St. Paul is the usual workplace of 3,140 people, and 2,015 of its own residents commute to a job.
The short version on work in St. Paul
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6.2% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
3,140 people work in St. Paul and 2,015 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 17.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.1% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for St. Paul: A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #94 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.
How many in St. Paul have a job: 75% of 15-to-64s
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 12, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 71% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Counting those looking for work too, 64% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 60% of residents 15 and over were in work. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
St. Paul fills up on a working day: 51% more workers
For every resident who leaves St. Paul for work, about 4 people come in. The job is inside the municipality for 82% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in St. Paul
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.6 minutes. The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 68%, more than the 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.
1,498 people come into St. Paul to work, most from St. Paul County No. 19 and Smoky Lake County
Of everyone working in St. Paul, 48% come in from elsewhere; 915 make the 10 km trip from St. Paul County No. 19. Outbound, St. Paul County No. 19 takes the most: 135 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The median household in St. Paul had $79,500 in 2020
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 55% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 12 have a higher median. Set beside Alberta’s towns, where the median is $92,250, St. Paul sits 14% below. 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).
St. Paul gets to work without a car for 13% of commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 85% against 88%. Only 6.5% worked at home on census day, against 21% 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. 12 run 12% below their 2019 level
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 17%. In July 2021 it reached 4,190, the most in the series and 2.2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.2 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (Census Division No. 12). EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Getting around St. Paul on foot earns A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #231 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, St. Paul is 158th of 688 Canadian towns of 4,400 to 8,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Altadore Alberta | 7,675 | 80% | 8.1% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Parkview Alberta | 5,729 | 80% | 9% | $155K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 156 | South Bruce Ontario | 6,247 | 82% | 6.1% | $88K | A− |
| 157 | Riverdale Alberta | 5,490 | 80% | 9.2% | $83K | A− |
| 158 | St. Paul Alberta | 6,218 | 75% | 6.2% | $80K | A− |
| 159 | Webber Greens Alberta | 5,035 | 75% | 10% | $129K | A− |
| 160 | Saint-Paul Quebec | 7,208 | 82% | 3.9% | $86K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 688 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of St. Paul, and others among Alberta’s towns.
The work picture around St. Paul
St. Paul has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 10–43 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | 75% | 6.2% | $80K | 17.1 min | A− | A− |
| St. Paul County No. 19 10.2 km | 82% | 5.2% | $87K | 26.9 min | B+ | D |
| Elk Point 27.6 km | 72% | 11% | $79K | 20.8 min | B− | A− |
| Kehewin 123 32.3 km | 37% | 32% | $67K | 17.8 min | C− | D− |
| Two Hills County No. 21 34.8 km | 74% | 6.2% | $70K | 29 min | C− | C+ |
| Two Hills 42.7 km | 61% | 12% | $68K | 22.8 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 St. Paul, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in St. Paul
What is the average household income in St. Paul?
The median household in St. Paul had $79,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in St. Paul get to work?
By car: 85% of commuters, 13% walk and 0.4% cycle; on census day 6.5% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from St. Paul?
17.1 minutes is the average trip, with 68% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.1% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in St. Paul work?
Most stay: 82% work in St. Paul. The rest go first to St. Paul County No. 19 (135) and Elk Point (55).
How many jobs are there in St. Paul?
The 2021 census counted about 3,140 people working in St. Paul: 1.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 443 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in St. Paul?
At the 2021 census 6.2% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake economic region, gives 5.6% in 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).