Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area E, Cowichan Valley has higher household incomes than 63% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley reached 6.9%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley: 1,525, for 1,165 residents with a usual workplace. Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley counted 77% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.2% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 6.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
1,525 people work in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley and 1,165 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 22.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.2% 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, Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley grades B+
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #77 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
In and out of work in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cowichan Valley census division, 6 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. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 62%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 58%: many residents are past working age. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Workers pour into Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley: 23% more on a working day
The job is inside the municipality for 21% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley average 22.4 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 19.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 42% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 5.2% of commuters, under 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.
1,285 people come into Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley to work, most from North Cowichan and Shawnigan
Of everyone working in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley, 84% come in from elsewhere; 510 make the 5 km trip from North Cowichan. North Cowichan is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 345 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The median household in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley had $83,600 in 2020
Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley sits 4% below. Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in the Cowichan Valley census division, 5 have a higher median. 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 7.9% of Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley’s commuters
Only 20% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Cowichan Valley census division, 33% more people receive EI than in 2019
The highest month was August 2021: 3,820 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 4%.
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 E, Cowichan Valley shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Cowichan Valley census division.
Getting around Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley on foot earns C+
Better than 43% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #208 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 3,100 to 6,100, Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley ranks 196th of 755 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 194 | Magrath Heights Alberta | 3,728 | 74% | 14% | $161K | B+ |
| 195 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 68% | 9.8% | $86K | B+ |
| 196 | Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 4,482 | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | B+ |
| 197 | Saint-Agapit Quebec | 4,817 | 85% | 5.6% | $77K | B+ |
| 198 | Meadow Lake Saskatchewan | 5,667 | 69% | 11% | $86K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 755 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | 22.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Cowichan 1.2 km | 43% | 14% | $76K | 19.5 min | C | C+ |
| Duncan 1.5 km | 70% | 9.5% | $53K | 21.3 min | C− | A+ |
| North Cowichan 5.1 km | 76% | 7.1% | $79K | 22.7 min | B | B+ |
| Cowichan Bay 7.3 km | 81% | 5.9% | $89K | 25.4 min | A− | B− |
| Cobble Hill 12.4 km | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | 30.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Shawnigan 13.4 km | 78% | 6.2% | $100K | 33.9 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 Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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 Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley
How do people in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley get to work?
91% of commuters drive, 6.4% walk and 1.5% cycle; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley?
The average commute is 22.4 minutes; 42% of trips take under 15 minutes and 5.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley work?
Only 21% work in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley itself; the rest go first to North Cowichan (345) and Duncan (215).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley?
The 2021 census found about 1,525 people with their usual workplace in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 259 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 6.9%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley?
The census puts Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley at $83,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, 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).