Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0Almost every Canadian town has more of its working-age people in jobs than Cowichan
Before tax, the typical household in Cowichan brought in $75,600 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. The census counted 1,150 people working in Cowichan and 500 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. 14% of the labour force in Cowichan was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Cowichan: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 43% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 39%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 14% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 1,150 jobs based in Cowichan and 500 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19.5 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4% 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.
Cowichan grades C for jobs and income
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Cowichan: 43%
None of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cowichan Valley census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Counting those looking for work too, 45% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
On a working day, 1,225 people work in Cowichan, 2.1 times its working residents
For every resident who leaves Cowichan for work, about 3 people come in. 34% 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.
19.5 minutes from Cowichan to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 53% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 4% of commuters, under the 6.3% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 17.5 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
980 people come into Cowichan to work, most from North Cowichan and Duncan
- Nanaimo110
- North Cowichan70
- Duncan30
- East Saanich 220
- New Songhees 1A15
- View Royal10
- Sooke10
- South Saanich 110
- Becher Bay 110
- Esquimalt10
85% of the people who work in Cowichan live outside it, 540 of them in North Cowichan, 5 km away. The main destination the other way is Nanaimo, with 110.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Cowichan
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 53% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Cowichan’s median is 13% below. Of the 11 other places of 2,500 or more in the Cowichan Valley census division, 9 have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
6.4% of commuters from Cowichan go without a car
The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 11%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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 count topped out in August 2021 at 3,820 people, 2.5 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. 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). Cowichan doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Cowichan Valley census division.
Cowichan earns C+ for walkability
Better than 36% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in the places around Cowichan
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowichan | 43% | 14% | $76K | 19.5 min | C | C+ |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley 1.2 km | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | 22.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Duncan 1.5 km | 70% | 9.5% | $53K | 21.3 min | C− | A+ |
| North Cowichan 4.8 km | 76% | 7.1% | $79K | 22.7 min | B | B+ |
| Cowichan Bay 6.4 km | 81% | 5.9% | $89K | 25.4 min | A− | B− |
| Cobble Hill 11.7 km | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | 30.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Shawnigan 13.3 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 Cowichan, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
- A First Nations reserve. Cowichan’s figures are its own, though Statistics Canada rounds or suppresses some for small communities. A reserve has no overall grade and sits in no ranked list.
Questions about work in Cowichan
How do people in Cowichan get to work?
91% of commuters drive, 1.6% take public transit and 4.8% walk; 11% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Cowichan?
The average commute is 19.5 minutes; 53% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Cowichan work?
34% work in Cowichan itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Nanaimo (110), then North Cowichan (70).
How many jobs are there in Cowichan?
The 2021 census found about 1,150 people with their usual workplace in Cowichan, or 2.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 63 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Cowichan?
The census put unemployment at 14% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%.
What is the average household income in Cowichan?
Before tax, half the households in Cowichan had more than $75,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).