Photo: Kiwibirdman · CC BY 3.0Households in Highlands have higher incomes than those in 97% of Canadian towns
29% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. The census counted 90 people working in Highlands and 685 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. In Highlands, 83% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Jobs and income in Highlands: what the figures say
More people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 83% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 61%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 4.9% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.8% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $123,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Highlands grades A
Better than 92% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #19 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 and out of work in Highlands
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Capital census division, 10 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 61% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 64%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 61% of residents 15 and over were in work. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Household income in Highlands: $123,900 at the median
No other place of 2,500 or more in the Capital census division has a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Highlands sits 43% above. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More go out than come in: the working day in Highlands
Each person commuting in is matched by about 24 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 9.4% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Highlands’ residents in work leave it to work; Langford takes the most
- Langford140
- Victoria120
- Saanich115
- Colwood55
- Central Saanich40
- View Royal40
- Esquimalt35
- Sidney20
- North Saanich15
- Oak Bay15
Langford sends the largest group the other way, 15 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Highlands work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 4.1% of commuters in Highlands
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 27.3 minutes from Highlands
An hour or more: 1% of commuters, under the 6.3% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.7 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 16%, fewer than the 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the Capital census division run 44% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 7%. In January 2021 it reached 15,570, the most in the series and 3 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.2 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Capital census division, Highlands included.
Everyday places on foot in Highlands: C−
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #233 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Highlands is 56th of 497 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 54 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| 55 | Scott Quebec | 2,938 | 87% | 4.1% | $90K | A |
| 56 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| 57 | Holliston Saskatchewan | 2,963 | 75% | 10% | $100K | A |
| 58 | Saint-Bruno Quebec | 2,935 | 85% | 2.9% | $79K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Mackenzie British Columbia | 3,442 | 78% | 12% | $88K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 69 | Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine British Columbia | 3,189 | 83% | 8% | $97K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Highlands, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in and around Highlands
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | 27.3 min | A | C− |
| Central Saanich 7.5 km | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | 21.7 min | A+ | A− |
| Langford 9.8 km | 81% | 6.2% | $93K | 24.3 min | A | A |
| View Royal 9.8 km | 78% | 5.6% | $97K | 22.1 min | A | A |
| East Saanich 2 11 km | 72% | 12% | $58K | 20.9 min | C− | B |
| New Songhees 1A 11.8 km | 67% | 16% | $59K | 23.4 min | D | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 12.4 km | 75% | 7% | $95K | 28.1 min | B− | C |
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 Highlands, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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 Highlands
What is the unemployment rate in Highlands?
At the 2021 census 4.9% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Victoria metro area, gives 4.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Highlands?
Highlands’s middle household had $123,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Highlands get to work?
Driving takes 92% of commuters to work, 4.1% walk, and on census day 29% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Highlands?
About 27.3 minutes on average, with 16% under a quarter-hour and 1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Highlands work?
Only 9.4% work in Highlands itself; the rest go first to Langford (140) and Victoria (120).
How many jobs are there in Highlands?
Some 90 people worked in Highlands at the 2021 census: 0.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 98 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).