Photo: LN? from Canada · CC BY 2.0Households in Coldstream earn more than those in 94% of Canadian towns
In Coldstream, 77% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Coldstream is the usual workplace of 1,095 people, and 3,335 of its own residents commute to a job. Out of work in May 2021: 7.8% of Coldstream’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What sets Coldstream apart on jobs and income
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $111,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.4% 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.
On jobs and income, Coldstream grades A
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
$111,700 a year: the median household in Coldstream
No other place of 2,500 or more in the North Okanagan census division has a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Coldstream sits 29% above. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
At 21.9 minutes, commutes from Coldstream are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.3 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 43% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 5.4% of commuters, close to 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 Coldstream
For every person who comes in to work, about 4 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 13% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
87% of Coldstream’s residents in work leave it to work; Vernon takes the most
Vernon sends the largest group the other way, 345 people.
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 Coldstream work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Who in Coldstream has a job
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the North Okanagan census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 63% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 58% were working. 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 5.4% of Coldstream’s commuters
20% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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.
In the North Okanagan census division, 25% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 8%. In February 2021 it reached 4,850, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.3 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). Coldstream shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the North Okanagan census division.
On getting around on foot, Coldstream grades B−
Better than 48% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #199 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Coldstream is 34th of 650 Canadian towns of 8,000 to 15,400 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 2 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 3 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 84% | 5.5% | $77K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Sainte-Marie Quebec | 13,873 | 86% | 4.9% | $78K | A |
| 33 | Mapleton Ontario | 11,518 | 86% | 3.8% | $109K | A |
| 34 | Coldstream British Columbia | 11,380 | 77% | 7.8% | $112K | A |
| 35 | Des Châtels Quebec | 14,836 | 82% | 6.1% | $89K | A |
| 36 | Avalon Saskatchewan | 9,488 | 78% | 8.8% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 650 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Coldstream, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Coldstream
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coldstream | 77% | 7.8% | $112K | 21.9 min | A | B− |
| Vernon 5.7 km | 74% | 8.2% | $74K | 19.8 min | B | A− |
| Electoral Area C, North Okanagan 6.5 km | 76% | 8% | $105K | 22.9 min | A | B− |
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan 8.7 km | 75% | 6.4% | $83K | 19.6 min | A− | C+ |
| Okanagan (Part) 1 14.6 km | 67% | 13% | $65K | 28.2 min | D | C− |
| Lumby 17.8 km | 70% | 8.8% | $77K | 29.1 min | C− | A+ |
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 Coldstream, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- 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 Coldstream
How do people in Coldstream get to work?
Driving takes 91% of commuters to work, 0.5% take public transit, 3% walk and 1.9% cycle, and on census day 20% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Coldstream?
About 21.9 minutes on average, with 43% under a quarter-hour and 5.4% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Coldstream work?
Only 13% work in Coldstream itself; the rest go first to Vernon (2,075) and Kelowna (190).
How many jobs are there in Coldstream?
Some 1,095 people worked in Coldstream at the 2021 census: 0.3 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 348 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Coldstream?
At the 2021 census 7.8% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Thompson-Okanagan economic region, gives 6.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Coldstream?
The median household in Coldstream had $111,700 before tax in 2020, 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).