Photo: KenWalker · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Fairwinds works elsewhere: the town has 0.4 jobs for each resident in work
70% of people aged 15 to 64 in Fairwinds had a job at the 2021 census, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. The median household in Fairwinds had $93,200 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Home was the workplace for 32% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%.
What the numbers say about work in Fairwinds
Work near the middle
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 70% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 39%. In work ↓
Many work from home
32% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Fairwinds earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #160 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 3.4% of Fairwinds’ commuters
Transit takes 0.6% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
The daily tide in Fairwinds runs outward
For every person who comes in to work, about 4 residents travel out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
82% of Fairwinds’ residents in work leave it to work; Nanaimo takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Nanaimo, with 95.
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 Fairwinds
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nanaimo census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 39% of residents 15 and over were in work. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 43% of residents 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.
Earnings at home in Fairwinds: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 79% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Fairwinds’ median is 7% above. Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in the Nanaimo census division, 2 have a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
26.9 minutes from Fairwinds to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
8.7% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of British Columbia’s towns has 6.3%. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.4 minutes. Only 23% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
In the Nanaimo census division, 25% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 7,290 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Nanaimo census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The walkability of Fairwinds: C
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #227 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 5,000 to 9,600, Fairwinds ranks 439th of 700 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 437 | Westlock County Alberta | 7,556 | 79% | 7.6% | $81K | C+ |
| 438 | Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Quebec | 5,393 | 75% | 9.5% | $81K | C+ |
| 439 | Electoral Area E, Nanaimo British Columbia | 7,125 | 70% | 9.7% | $93K | C+ |
| 440 | Old East York Ontario | 9,175 | 72% | 12% | $100K | C+ |
| 441 | Sackville New Brunswick | 6,572 | 69% | 12% | $68K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 700 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fairwinds, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Fairwinds and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairwinds | 70% | 9.7% | $93K | 26.9 min | C+ | C |
| Lantzville 7.6 km | 77% | 6.5% | $98K | 22.4 min | A | B− |
| Parksville 11.7 km | 75% | 6.7% | $67K | 20 min | B− | A |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo 15.1 km | 72% | 9.5% | $85K | 23.7 min | B− | B− |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 15.2 km | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | 25.4 min | B | C− |
| Nanaimo 17.4 km | 75% | 8.4% | $76K | 20.5 min | B | 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 Fairwinds, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Fairwinds as part of Electoral Area E, Nanaimo, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Fairwinds
How do people in Fairwinds get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 0.6% take public transit and 2.8% walk, and on census day 32% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Fairwinds?
About 26.9 minutes on average, with 23% under a quarter-hour and 8.7% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fairwinds work?
18% work in Fairwinds itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Nanaimo (385), then Parksville (225).
How many jobs are there in Fairwinds?
Statistics Canada counted 218 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Fairwinds?
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 9.7%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Fairwinds?
The census puts Fairwinds at $93,200 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).