Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area C, Central Kootenay has lower household incomes than 77% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 5.6% of Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. For 2.2% of commuters in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 16.8 minutes. Jobs were held by 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 5.6% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $65,500 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.2% last an hour or longer. 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 Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay: B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay were working in 2021
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Central Kootenay census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 52% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 49%: many residents are past working age. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 54% in work in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay households: $65,500 a year at the median
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in the Central Kootenay census division, 7 have a higher median. That puts Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay 25% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. 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).
How long the commute from Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay takes
Timed exactly, the average is 14.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 61%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’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.
More go out than come in: the working day in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
295 residents of Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 205 people had theirs in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, wherever they lived.
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 12% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
88% of Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s residents in work leave it to work; Creston takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Creston (80).
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 Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Walking, cycling or transit: 0% of Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 24%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
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.
24% more people are on EI in the Central Kootenay census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.8 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 15%. In January 2021 it reached 3,650, the most in the series and 2.4 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). Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Central Kootenay census division.
The Walkability grade for Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay: D−
Better than 2% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay | 76% | 5.6% | $66K | 16.8 min | B | D− |
| Creston 2.9 km | 73% | 9% | $59K | 14.3 min | C+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay 5.7 km | 70% | 7.9% | $67K | 20.2 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 Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so 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. 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. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay?
About 205 people had their usual place of work in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay at the 2021 census, 0.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 47 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 5.6%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay?
Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay’s middle household had $65,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay get to work?
93% of commuters go by car. On census day 24% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay?
On average 16.8 minutes; 61% take under 15 minutes and 2.2% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay work?
12% work in Electoral Area C, Central Kootenay itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Creston (205), then Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay (30).
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).