Photo: Shoju foge · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Vermilion have jobs more often than in 70% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 9.8% of Vermilion’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Vermilion take well under an hour: the average is 16.2 minutes, and 3% take 60 minutes or longer. In 2020, a household at the middle of Vermilion had $78,600 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Vermilion at work: what stands out
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 79% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 60%. In work ↓
A local job centre
1,975 people work in Vermilion and 1,290 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 16.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3% 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.
Vermilion grades A for jobs and income
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #29 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.
How many in Vermilion have a job: 79% of 15-to-64s
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 10, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 57% in work in October 2026. Working or looking, 67% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 60% of residents 15 and over were in work. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Each working day, Vermilion’s workforce swells by 46%
1,290 residents of Vermilion had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,975 people had theirs in Vermilion, wherever they lived.
About 4 people arrive to work in Vermilion for each resident who goes out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Vermilion
The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 73% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.3 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
916 people come into Vermilion to work, most from Vermilion River County and Mannville
- Vermilion River County560
- Mannville80
- Minburn County No. 2770
- Lloydminster (Part)45
- Wainwright25
- Wainwright No. 6120
- Two Hills County No. 2120
- Lloydminster (Part)15
- Kitscoty15
- Macklin10
- Wainwright40
- Lloydminster (Part)35
- Kitscoty35
- Vermilion River County25
- Lloydminster (Part)15
- Mannville15
- Vegreville10
- Bonnyville10
- Elk Point10
Of everyone working in Vermilion, 46% come in from elsewhere; 560 make the 20 km trip from Vermilion River County. Going the other way, Wainwright is the biggest single destination (40).
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 Vermilion work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Vermilion: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
Of the 9 other places of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 10, 6 have a higher median. Vermilion’s median is 15% below the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250). 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 9.2% of Vermilion’s commuters
By car, truck or van: 90% of commuters, against 88% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Only 11% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 7.7% of commuters, well above the 2.5% in the middle of Alberta’s towns.
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. 10 run 5% above their 2019 level
Vermilion doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 10.
That is about 3.5 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 4%. In January 2021 it reached 5,330, the most in the series and 2.8 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).
Walking in Vermilion earns A
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #206 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Vermilion is 77th among 766 Canadian towns of 2,900 to 5,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Garrison Woods Alberta | 3,138 | 79% | 10% | $146K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 Alberta | 4,576 | 84% | 5.5% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Laurier Heights Alberta | 3,048 | 78% | 6.9% | $163K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Lakewood Urban Centre Saskatchewan | 4,923 | 72% | 6.3% | $122K | A |
| 76 | Grand River North Ontario | 3,823 | 76% | 9.4% | $116K | A |
| 77 | Vermilion Alberta | 4,192 | 79% | 9.8% | $79K | A |
| 78 | Westmount Alberta | 4,961 | 80% | 11% | $89K | A |
| 79 | Tisdale Saskatchewan | 3,052 | 83% | 3.5% | $68K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 766 | Division No. 1, Subdivision E Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,978 | 57% | 22% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Vermilion, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work next door to Vermilion
The nearest places to Vermilion with figures are 20–59 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermilion | 79% | 9.8% | $79K | 16.2 min | A | A |
| Vermilion River County 19.6 km | 86% | 5.8% | $103K | 27.2 min | A | C− |
| Lloydminster (Part) 55.7 km | 75% | 11% | $98K | 15.9 min | A | B+ |
| Wainwright 57.4 km | 77% | 8.2% | $85K | 14.4 min | A | A− |
| Lloydminster (Part) 57.7 km | 72% | 13% | $87K | 17.3 min | A− | C+ |
| Britannia No. 502 59.4 km | 81% | 8.4% | $119K | 27.1 min | A | D |
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 Vermilion, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- 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.
- 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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 Vermilion
How do people in Vermilion get to work?
Driving takes 90% of commuters to work, 7.7% walk and 1.5% cycle, and on census day 11% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Vermilion?
About 16.2 minutes on average, with 73% under a quarter-hour and 3% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Vermilion work?
82% work in Vermilion itself; of those who leave, the most go to Wainwright (40), then Lloydminster (Part) (35).
How many jobs are there in Vermilion?
Some 1,975 people worked in Vermilion at the 2021 census: 1.5 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 312 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Vermilion?
Two figures answer it: 9.8% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.8% for the Camrose-Drumheller economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Vermilion?
The census puts Vermilion at $78,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $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).