Photo: Doug Hay derivative work: MrPanyGoff · CC BY 2.0Duncan has lower household incomes than 97% of Canadian towns
Duncan had an unemployment rate of 9.5% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. 3,135 people have their usual place of work in Duncan, against 1,230 residents who travel to a job. The 2021 census found 70% of working-age people in Duncan employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
The work figures that set Duncan apart
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $53,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
3,135 people work in Duncan and 1,230 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 21.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7.3% 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.
Duncan grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 19% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #227 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.
The median household in Duncan had $53,400 in 2020
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Duncan’s median is 39% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Cowichan Valley census division has 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).
On a working day, 3,359 people work in Duncan, 2.3 times its working residents
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 3 to 1 in Duncan.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 21.3 minutes from Duncan
Trips under 15 minutes: 50%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 7.3% of commuters, above the 6.3% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.5 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes.
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.
2,814 people come into Duncan to work, most from North Cowichan and Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley
Of everyone working in Duncan, 90% come in from elsewhere; 1,555 make the 4 km trip from North Cowichan. Going the other way, North Cowichan is the biggest single destination (380).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Duncan were working in 2021
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Cowichan Valley census division, one 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, 50% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 45% 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: 15% of Duncan’s commuters
Transit takes 1.6% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 12% of commuters, well above the 4.6% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 84% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Cowichan Valley census division run 33% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in August 2021, 3,820 people were on EI, 2.5 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 4.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Cowichan Valley census division, with Duncan one part of it.
Duncan on foot: a A+ grade
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #54 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Duncan next to Canadian towns of 4,000 to 7,800: 597th of 713 on 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 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 595 | Simonds New Brunswick | 4,263 | 69% | 11% | $80K | C− |
| 596 | Glenwood Alberta | 4,842 | 67% | 15% | $67K | C− |
| 597 | Duncan British Columbia | 5,745 | 70% | 9.5% | $53K | C− |
| 598 | York Alberta | 4,030 | 67% | 16% | $84K | C− |
| 599 | Lawfield Ontario | 6,021 | 64% | 14% | $78K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 713 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Duncan, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs near Duncan: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan | 70% | 9.5% | $53K | 21.3 min | C− | A+ |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley 1.5 km | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | 22.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Cowichan 1.5 km | 43% | 14% | $76K | 19.5 min | C | C+ |
| North Cowichan 3.6 km | 76% | 7.1% | $79K | 22.7 min | B | B+ |
| Cowichan Bay 7.8 km | 81% | 5.9% | $89K | 25.4 min | A− | B− |
| Cobble Hill 13.2 km | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | 30.1 min | B+ | B− |
| Shawnigan 14.7 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 Duncan, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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 Duncan
What is the unemployment rate in Duncan?
Two figures answer it: 9.5% 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 Duncan?
Duncan’s middle household had $53,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Duncan get to work?
By car: 84% of commuters, 1.6% take public transit, 12% walk and 0.9% cycle; on census day 12% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Duncan?
21.3 minutes is the average trip, with 50% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 7.3% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Duncan work?
Only 26% work in Duncan itself; the rest go first to North Cowichan (380) and Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley (100).
How many jobs are there in Duncan?
The 2021 census counted about 3,135 people working in Duncan: 2.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 473 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).