Photo: The original uploader was GreenB1983 at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Invermere tops that of 82% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Invermere reached 5.9%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Invermere takes 15.6 minutes on average, an hour or more for 3.3%. Before tax, the typical household in Invermere brought in $84,300 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Invermere and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
82% 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 60%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
5.9% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 4.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 1,680 jobs based in Invermere and 1,335 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 15.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.3% 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.
Invermere grades A+ for jobs and income
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #5 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.
Work and the working-age population of Invermere
All 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the East Kootenay census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 64%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 60%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 54% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
On a working day Invermere gains 22% in workers
1,335 residents of Invermere had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,680 people had theirs in Invermere, wherever they lived.
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Invermere. Of those who commute, 63% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Invermere
Timed exactly, the average is 13.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 66% of commuters, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
838 people come into Invermere to work, most from Electoral Area F, East Kootenay and Electoral Area G, East Kootenay
50% of the people who work in Invermere live outside it, 360 of them in Electoral Area F, East Kootenay, 14 km away. The main destination the other way is Electoral Area F, East Kootenay, with 150.
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 Invermere work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Invermere earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 65% of Canadian towns.
5 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the East Kootenay census division have a higher median. Set beside British Columbia’s towns, where the median is $86,900, Invermere sits 3% below. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 17% of Invermere’s commuters get to work
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 13% against 21%. Few ride transit: 0.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 14% against 4.6%.
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.
In the East Kootenay census division, 23% more people receive EI than in 2019
In February 2021 it reached 3,400, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.9 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the East Kootenay 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 Invermere: A+
Better than 97% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #64 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,800, Invermere ranks 23rd of 746 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard Quebec | 3,018 | 85% | 4.5% | $83K | A+ |
| 22 | Edenwold No. 158 Saskatchewan | 4,932 | 84% | 4.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 23 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| 24 | Richmond Alberta | 4,811 | 79% | 9.2% | $114K | A+ |
| 25 | New Edinburgh Ontario | 5,728 | 79% | 7.4% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 78% | 7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Rossland British Columbia | 4,355 | 77% | 11% | $96K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 746 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Invermere, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Invermere and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invermere | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | 15.6 min | A+ | A+ |
| Radium Hot Springs 13.6 km | 78% | 8.5% | $83K | 19.8 min | A− | A |
| Electoral Area F, East Kootenay 14.3 km | 76% | 9.1% | $86K | 18.8 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 Invermere, 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. 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. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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 Invermere
What is the average household income in Invermere?
At $84,300 before tax in 2020, the median household in Invermere compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Invermere get to work?
82% of commuters go by car, 0.6% take public transit, 14% walk and 2.4% cycle. On census day 13% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Invermere?
On average 15.6 minutes; 66% take under 15 minutes and 3.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Invermere work?
63% work in Invermere itself; of those who leave, the most go to Electoral Area F, East Kootenay (150), then Radium Hot Springs (125).
How many jobs are there in Invermere?
About 1,680 people had their usual place of work in Invermere at the 2021 census, 1.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 327 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Invermere?
Two figures answer it: 5.9% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.1% for the Kootenay economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 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).