Photo: Holger Steinhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Fernie are higher than in 91% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census put unemployment in Fernie at 9.4%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Fernie take well under an hour: the average is 21.6 minutes, and 10% take 60 minutes or longer. At the 2021 census, 78% of Fernie’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Fernie apart on jobs and income
Higher incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $107,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 21.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 10% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Fernie: A
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #14 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.
Median household income in Fernie: $107,400 in 2020
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Fernie is 24% above it. 2 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the East Kootenay census division 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).
Commuting times in Fernie
Trips under 15 minutes: 59%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.3 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 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.
About as many people come in to work in Fernie as leave
Of those who commute, 68% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
723 people come into Fernie to work, most from Electoral Area A, East Kootenay and Sparwood
32% of the people who work in Fernie live outside it, 300 of them in Electoral Area A, East Kootenay, 11 km away. Sparwood is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 360 of them.
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 Fernie were working in 2021
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the East Kootenay census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 65% were working. In October 2026, 54% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 72%. 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 20% of Fernie’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%. Transit takes 2.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 0.9% cycling; here, 7.5% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
23% more people are on EI in the East Kootenay census division than in 2019
The highest month was February 2021: 3,400 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. Roughly 3.9 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%.
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). Fernie doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the East Kootenay census division.
Fernie earns A+ for walkability
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #73 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 700 Canadian towns of 5,000 to 9,600, Fernie comes 43rd on 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 41 | Humboldt Saskatchewan | 6,551 | 82% | 4.8% | $80K | A |
| 42 | Belgravia Alberta | 5,478 | 79% | 9.2% | $128K | A |
| 43 | Fernie British Columbia | 7,086 | 78% | 9.4% | $107K | A |
| 44 | Playfair Park - Guildwood Estates Ontario | 6,186 | 78% | 8% | $112K | A |
| 45 | Avalon Saskatchewan | 9,488 | 78% | 8.8% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 700 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Fernie, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
The work picture around Fernie
Distances here run 11–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Fernie.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernie | 78% | 9.4% | $107K | 21.6 min | A | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, East Kootenay 10.9 km | 86% | 6.2% | $98K | 23.7 min | A+ | B |
| Electoral Area B, East Kootenay 23.3 km | 67% | 8.4% | $88K | 36.8 min | C− | D |
| Sparwood 28.6 km | 79% | 7.1% | $111K | 24.8 min | A | 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 Fernie, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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.
Questions about work in Fernie
How long is the commute from Fernie?
21.6 minutes is the average trip, with 59% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 10% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Fernie work?
Most stay: 68% work in Fernie. The rest go first to Sparwood (360) and Elkford (210).
How many jobs are there in Fernie?
The 2021 census counted about 2,265 people working in Fernie: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 401 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Fernie?
The census put unemployment at 9.4% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Kootenay economic region at 4.1%.
What is the average household income in Fernie?
At $107,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Fernie compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Fernie get to work?
By car: 78% of commuters, 2.2% take public transit, 10% walk and 7.5% cycle; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
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).