Photo: The Interior · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Chase trail those of 86% of Canadian towns
Of Chase’s residents aged 15 to 64, 70% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. 715 people have their usual place of work in Chase, against 475 residents who travel to a job. 9.4% of the labour force in Chase was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Chase stands out on work
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $61,300 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
715 people work in Chase and 475 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 29.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 10% 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.
Chase earns D for jobs and income
Better than 6% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #248 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
$61,300 a year: the median household in Chase
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Thompson-Nicola census division has a higher median. Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Chase’s median is 29% below. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted 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 Chase gains 40% in workers
For every resident who leaves Chase for work, about 2 people come in. 51% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A longer commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 29.4 minutes from Chase
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 26.1 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Within a quarter-hour: 39% of commuters, much as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 10% of commuters, above the 6.3% 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.
475 people come into Chase to work, most from Blind Bay and Kamloops
- Kamloops130
- Quaaout 125
- Kamloops 120
- Fort McMurray15
- Salmon Arm10
- Blind Bay10
- Fort St. John10
Of everyone working in Chase, 66% come in from elsewhere; 155 make the 23 km trip from Blind Bay. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Kamloops (130).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Chase, 70% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thompson-Nicola census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. Counting those looking for work too, 43% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 39% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 12% of Chase’s commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Only 15% 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).
14% more people are on EI in the Thompson-Nicola census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. In February 2021 it reached 7,510, the most in the series and 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.9 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. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Chase doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Thompson-Nicola census division.
Walkability in Chase: graded A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #69 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Where Chase sits among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 49 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 51 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Mackenzie British Columbia | 3,442 | 78% | 12% | $88K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 395 | Cedar Hill Ontario | 3,190 | 67% | 11% | $51K | D |
| 396 | Thurso Quebec | 3,439 | 72% | 10% | $63K | D |
| 397 | Chase British Columbia | 2,591 | 70% | 9.4% | $61K | D |
| 398 | French River / Rivière des Français Ontario | 3,178 | 67% | 14% | $69K | D |
| 399 | West Jasper Place Alberta | 3,427 | 59% | 19% | $54K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 424 | 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 Chase, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Around Chase: jobs, pay and the commute
Chase has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 16–29 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase | 70% | 9.4% | $61K | 29.4 min | D | A+ |
| Sun Peaks Mountain 15.8 km | 71% | 11% | $87K | 23.9 min | B− | A |
| Blind Bay 22.6 km | 70% | 9.3% | $75K | 28.6 min | C− | C+ |
| Electoral Area L (Grasslands), Thompson-Nicola 25 km | 80% | 6.8% | $81K | 34.4 min | C+ | C+ |
| Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola 27.2 km | 75% | 7.7% | $94K | 33.2 min | C+ | D |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap 28.7 km | 67% | 13% | $66K | 30.7 min | D | C+ |
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 Chase, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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 Chase
How long is the commute from Chase?
About 29.4 minutes on average, with 39% under a quarter-hour and 10% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Chase work?
Most stay: 51% work in Chase. The rest go first to Kamloops (130) and Quaaout 1 (25).
How many jobs are there in Chase?
Some 715 people worked in Chase at the 2021 census: 1.5 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 84 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Chase?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 9.4% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Kamloops metro area at 4.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Chase?
At $61,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Chase compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Chase get to work?
Driving takes 86% of commuters to work, 12% walk, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
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).