Photo: railfan 44 · Public domainA smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Fort St. James than in 78% of Canadian towns
9.6% of the labour force in Fort St. James was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. 695 people have their usual place of work in Fort St. James, against 435 residents who travel to a job. In 2020, a household at the middle of Fort St. James had $90,000 before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
The work numbers behind Fort St. James
Fewer people in work than most towns
68% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 58%. In work ↓
A local job centre
With 695 jobs based in Fort St. James and 435 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 19.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 12% 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.
Jobs and income in Fort St. James earn B+
Better than 65% 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.
In Fort St. James, 68% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 65% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Fort St. James fills up on a working day: 53% more workers
For every resident who leaves Fort St. James for work, about 4 people come in. 80% 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.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Fort St. James average 19.2 minutes
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 73%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 12% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of British Columbia’s towns has 6.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 18.9 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.
346 people come into Fort St. James to work, most from Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako and Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako
50% of the people who work in Fort St. James live outside it, 225 of them in Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako, 5 km away. The main destination the other way is Mackenzie, with 45.
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 Fort St. James
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 75% of Canadian towns.
Fort St. James’ median is 4% above the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). Of the 5 other places of 2,500 or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, 2 have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
17% of commuters from Fort St. James go without a car
Only 9.7% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 4.5% of commuters, above the 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 4.6% walking; here, 13% do. 77% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
About as many people are on EI in the Bulkley-Nechako census division as in 2019
Roughly 5.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,240 people on EI, 1.8 times 2019’s average.
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). Fort St. James shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Bulkley-Nechako census division.
Fort St. James earns A for walkability
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Fort St. James: the places around it
No closer places have figures: these lie 5–63 km from Fort St. James.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. James | 68% | 9.6% | $90K | 19.2 min | B+ | A |
| Electoral Area C, Bulkley-Nechako 5.4 km | 73% | 10% | $93K | 23 min | B+ | D− |
| Vanderhoof 50.4 km | 74% | 8.2% | $91K | 14.4 min | A | B |
| Electoral Area F, Bulkley-Nechako 59.6 km | 67% | 15% | $87K | 27 min | C | C− |
| Electoral Area D, Bulkley-Nechako 62.8 km | 54% | 14% | $75K | 28.7 min | D | D |
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 Fort St. James, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Fort St. James
What is the unemployment rate in Fort St. James?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 9.6% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the North Coast and Nechako economic region at 5.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Fort St. James?
Fort St. James’s middle household had $90,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Fort St. James get to work?
77% of commuters go by car, 4.5% take public transit and 13% walk. On census day 9.7% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Fort St. James?
On average 19.2 minutes; 73% take under 15 minutes and 12% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fort St. James work?
80% work in Fort St. James itself; of those who leave, the most go to Mackenzie (45), then Vanderhoof (25).
How many jobs are there in Fort St. James?
About 695 people had their usual place of work in Fort St. James at the 2021 census, 1.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 106 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).