Photo: Enzenberger · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Wetaskiwin are less likely to have a job than in 79% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Wetaskiwin is 19.8 minutes; 7% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. In 2020, a household at the middle of Wetaskiwin had $69,800 before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 12% of Wetaskiwin’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What sets Wetaskiwin apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 68% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 52% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $69,800 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
5,055 people work in Wetaskiwin and 4,025 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 19.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7% 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.
Wetaskiwin grades C for jobs and income
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #352 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.
In Wetaskiwin, 68% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 211 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 11, 76 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 52% were working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 63% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 60%. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Earnings at home in Wetaskiwin: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 67% of Canadian towns.
185 of the 211 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 11 have a higher median. Against the middle of Alberta’s towns ($92,250), Wetaskiwin’s median is 24% below. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Each working day, Wetaskiwin’s workforce swells by 24%
About 2 people arrive to work in Wetaskiwin for each resident who goes out. The job is inside the municipality for 71% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Wetaskiwin takes
A quarter-hour or less for 63% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of Alberta’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 17.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Alberta’s towns averages 25.8 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.
2,217 people come into Wetaskiwin to work, most from Wetaskiwin County No. 10 and Leduc
- Wetaskiwin County No. 10870
- Leduc270
- Edmonton270
- Camrose245
- Camrose County100
- Millet100
- Ponoka65
- Leduc County45
- Ponoka County35
- Beaumont30
Of everyone working in Wetaskiwin, 44% come in from elsewhere; 870 make the 36 km trip from Wetaskiwin County No. 10. Leduc County is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 220 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 7.3% of Wetaskiwin’s commuters get to work
Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Alberta’s towns: 5.8% against 2.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 90% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 6.6% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In Census Division No. 11, 30% more people receive EI than in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 11, Wetaskiwin included.
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%. The highest month was January 2021: 97,990 people, 3.1 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 4.2 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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).
Walkability in Wetaskiwin: graded B+
Better than 73% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #321 of 474 in Alberta.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Wetaskiwin is 372nd among 589 Canadian towns of 9,600 to 18,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Canmore Alberta | 17,341 | 79% | 9.7% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | West Hillhurst Alberta | 10,319 | 78% | 9.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Lakeview Alberta | 12,799 | 75% | 11% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 370 | Springbrook Ontario | 14,961 | 69% | 13% | $137K | C |
| 371 | Yellowhead County Alberta | 10,966 | 71% | 12% | $90K | C |
| 372 | Wetaskiwin Alberta | 13,703 | 68% | 12% | $70K | C |
| 373 | Borden Farm - Fisher Glen Ontario | 11,100 | 68% | 13% | $84K | C |
| 374 | Vieux-Moulin Quebec | 15,935 | 76% | 9.7% | $53K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 589 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Wetaskiwin, and others among Alberta’s towns.
Work in and around Wetaskiwin
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wetaskiwin | 68% | 12% | $70K | 19.8 min | C | B+ |
| Ermineskin 138 13.7 km | 33% | 27% | $77K | 15.5 min | C+ | C− |
| Millet 15.5 km | 68% | 9.9% | $81K | 29.7 min | C− | C+ |
| Louis Bull 138B 17.1 km | 31% | 28% | $80K | 18.4 min | C+ | 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 Wetaskiwin, 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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 Wetaskiwin
Where do people in Wetaskiwin work?
71% work in Wetaskiwin itself; of those who leave, the most go to Leduc County (220), then Samson 137 (175).
How many jobs are there in Wetaskiwin?
The 2021 census found about 5,055 people with their usual workplace in Wetaskiwin, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 548 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Wetaskiwin?
The 2021 census found 12% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Edmonton economic region, is 7.3% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Wetaskiwin?
At $69,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Wetaskiwin compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Wetaskiwin get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 0.5% take public transit, 5.8% walk and 1% cycle; 6.6% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Wetaskiwin?
The average commute is 19.8 minutes; 63% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7% 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).