Photo: Sir-Mister-Horse · CC BY 4.0Sundre draws workers in: 2.2 jobs for every resident in work
Census day 2021 found 12% of Sundre’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 7.9% of workers in Sundre; the average is 19.6 minutes. The median household in Sundre had $72,400 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Sundre at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $72,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 19.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7.9% 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.
Sundre earns B+ for jobs and income
Better than 65% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #148 of 474 in Alberta.
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.
Earnings at home in Sundre: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 60% of Canadian towns.
Sundre’s median is 22% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). 148 of the 166 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 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 a working day, 1,895 people work in Sundre, 2 times its working residents
805 residents of Sundre had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,770 people had theirs in Sundre, wherever they lived.
Each resident commuting out of Sundre is matched by about 7 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 80% 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 Sundre
Timed exactly, the average is 18.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Alberta’s towns, the average commute is 25.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 64%, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
1,124 people come into Sundre to work, most from Mountain View County and Olds
Of everyone working in Sundre, 64% come in from elsewhere; 665 make the 22 km trip from Mountain View County. Going the other way, Olds 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.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Sundre work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
77% of working-age people in Sundre have jobs
Of the 166 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6, 131 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 60% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 53%. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 66% of the wider area’s adults in work. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
11% of commuters from Sundre go without a car
Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Alberta’s towns, at 88%. 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 run 35% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 97,600 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for Census Division No. 6, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Sundre on foot: a A− grade
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #263 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Sundre places 161st of 458 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 159 | Sainte-Luce Quebec | 2,808 | 79% | 5.3% | $70K | B+ |
| 160 | Marathon Ontario | 3,223 | 68% | 8.2% | $94K | B+ |
| 161 | Sundre Alberta | 2,683 | 77% | 12% | $72K | B+ |
| 162 | Minburn County No. 27 Alberta | 3,142 | 83% | 5.6% | $82K | B |
| 163 | Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 2,761 | 83% | 4.3% | $86K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 458 | 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 Sundre, and others among Alberta’s towns.
How Sundre compares with the places nearby
The nearest places to Sundre with figures are 22–46 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundre | 77% | 12% | $72K | 19.6 min | B+ | A− |
| Mountain View County 21.7 km | 85% | 7.9% | $94K | 30.8 min | B+ | C− |
| Olds 35.8 km | 78% | 9.8% | $83K | 19.4 min | A | A− |
| Didsbury 38.9 km | 76% | 10% | $78K | 26.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| Bowden 44.1 km | 62% | 23% | $69K | 29.5 min | D | B |
| Carstairs 46.2 km | 76% | 10% | $99K | 33.5 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 Sundre, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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 Sundre
How do people in Sundre get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 11% walk. On census day 11% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Sundre?
On average 19.6 minutes; 64% take under 15 minutes and 7.9% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Sundre work?
Most stay: 80% work in Sundre. The rest go first to Olds (60) and Didsbury (30).
How many jobs are there in Sundre?
About 1,770 people had their usual place of work in Sundre at the 2021 census, 2.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 328 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sundre?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Calgary economic region at 6.6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 12%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Sundre?
At $72,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Sundre compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).