Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Courtenay are lower than in 61% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Courtenay is 18.7 minutes; 4.9% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. In Courtenay, 74% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. When the 2021 census was taken, 8.5% of people in Courtenay who wanted a job had none, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Courtenay apart on jobs and income
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $72,100 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
11,120 people work in Courtenay and 8,320 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 18.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.9% 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.
Jobs and income in Courtenay earn B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #116 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
Half the households in Courtenay had more than $72,100 in 2020
Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Courtenay sits 17% below. 4 of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Comox Valley census division have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, Courtenay’s workforce grows by 28%
Each resident commuting out of Courtenay is matched by about 2 coming in. The job is inside the municipality for 63% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Courtenay
Timed exactly, the average is 17.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 57%, 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.
5,887 people come into Courtenay to work, most from Comox and Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley
Of everyone working in Courtenay, 53% come in from elsewhere; 1,935 make the 4 km trip from Comox. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Comox (1,335).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Courtenay
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Comox Valley census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
56% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 51%: many residents are past working age. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 56% of the wider area’s adults in work. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Courtenay gets to work without a car for 13% of commuters
By bus, train or subway: 2.6%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. More people cycle to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 3% against 0.9%. 84% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 14%, under the 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).
EI claims in the Comox Valley census division run 19% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.9 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 3,220, the most in the series and 2.5 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). Courtenay shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Comox Valley census division.
On getting around on foot, Courtenay grades A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #97 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Courtenay is 75th of 208 Canadian towns of 23,000 to 44,400 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Fort St. John British Columbia | 24,383 | 76% | 8.9% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 15 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 73 | Stonebridge - Half Moon Bay Ontario | 28,714 | 74% | 9.1% | $127K | B |
| 74 | Yaletown British Columbia | 40,297 | 77% | 8.3% | $84K | B |
| 75 | Courtenay British Columbia | 32,869 | 74% | 8.5% | $72K | B |
| 76 | Thetford Mines Quebec | 27,155 | 78% | 6.6% | $57K | B− |
| 77 | Alma Quebec | 30,659 | 76% | 5.3% | $68K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 208 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Courtenay, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
The work picture around Courtenay
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courtenay | 74% | 8.5% | $72K | 18.7 min | B | A |
| Comox 4.4 km | 75% | 6.7% | $83K | 18.6 min | A− | A |
| Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley 5.5 km | 74% | 9.4% | $89K | 21.5 min | B+ | B |
| Cumberland 8.8 km | 80% | 8.2% | $86K | 22.2 min | A | A− |
| Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley 11.7 km | 76% | 7.5% | $86K | 27.6 min | B− | C+ |
| Electoral Area A, Comox Valley 15.2 km | 77% | 7.3% | $71K | 23 min | B− | 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 Courtenay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Courtenay
What is the unemployment rate in Courtenay?
Two figures answer it: 8.5% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.2% for the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Courtenay?
The median household in Courtenay had $72,100 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Courtenay get to work?
84% of commuters drive, 2.6% take public transit, 6.9% walk and 3% cycle; 14% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Courtenay?
The average commute is 18.7 minutes; 57% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.9% an hour or more.
Where do people in Courtenay work?
Most stay: 63% work in Courtenay. The rest go first to Comox (1,335) and Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley (300).
How many jobs are there in Courtenay?
The 2021 census found about 11,120 people with their usual workplace in Courtenay, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 1,229 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).