Photo: Bernard Samuel Fenn · Public domainMission has higher household incomes than 84% of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Mission is 34.8 minutes; 19% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. With 73% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, Mission matches the middle of Canadian towns. In May 2021, unemployment in Mission reached 6.7%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Mission: the figures worth knowing
Less unemployment than most towns
6.7% 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 6.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 34.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 19% 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 Mission: C
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #186 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.
Work and the working-age population of Mission
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Fraser Valley census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
65% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 61%. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 61% in work in October 2026. 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.
The length of the trip to work in Mission
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 32.3 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Only 25% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
More workers leave Mission each day than arrive
12,900 residents of Mission had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 8,305 people had theirs in Mission, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 36% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
64% of Mission’s residents in work leave it to work; Abbotsford takes the most
- Abbotsford2,850
- Maple Ridge1,120
- Langley900
- Surrey880
- Port Coquitlam385
- Vancouver330
- Burnaby275
- Coquitlam270
- Pitt Meadows210
- Chilliwack205
Of those coming in, Abbotsford supplies the most: 1,860.
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 Mission work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
$98,200 a year: the median household in Mission
That puts Mission 13% above the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. No other place of 2,500 or more in the Fraser Valley census division has a higher median. 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5% of Mission’s commuters
Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 2.3% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
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.
46% more people are on EI in the Fraser Valley census division than in 2019
That works out to around 4.6 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 5%. The count topped out in July 2021 at 14,860 people, 2.4 times the 2019 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). Mission doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Fraser Valley census division.
Getting around Mission on foot earns B+
Better than 65% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #166 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Mission next to Canadian towns of 33,100 to 63,800: 73rd of 108 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Dieppe New Brunswick | 35,986 | 79% | 6.7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 81% | 6.2% | $93K | A |
| 8 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| 9 | Fairview British Columbia | 33,969 | 86% | 6.9% | $83K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 71 | East Gwillimbury Ontario | 42,989 | 72% | 12% | $119K | C+ |
| 72 | Roseborough Ontario | 54,539 | 66% | 14% | $131K | C+ |
| 73 | Mission British Columbia | 47,280 | 73% | 6.7% | $98K | C |
| 74 | Langley British Columbia | 35,444 | 77% | 6.9% | $77K | C |
| 75 | Sunset British Columbia | 37,186 | 72% | 8.9% | $93K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Sainte-Marie Quebec | 33,699 | 72% | 11% | $55K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Mission, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Mission, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | 73% | 6.7% | $98K | 34.8 min | C | B+ |
| Electoral Area G, Fraser Valley 7.5 km | 69% | 10% | $75K | 33.1 min | D | C− |
| Electoral Area F, Fraser Valley 10.6 km | 77% | 10% | $76K | 36.8 min | C− | C |
| Abbotsford 11.1 km | 76% | 7.8% | $90K | 26.2 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 Mission, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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 Mission
What is the average household income in Mission?
Mission’s middle household had $98,200 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Mission get to work?
By car: 93% of commuters, 2.3% take public transit, 2.5% walk and 0.2% cycle; on census day 13% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Mission?
34.8 minutes is the average trip, with 25% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 19% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Mission work?
36% work in Mission itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Abbotsford (2,850), then Maple Ridge (1,120).
How many jobs are there in Mission?
The 2021 census counted about 8,305 people working in Mission: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,208 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Mission?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 6.7% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Abbotsford-Mission metro area at 6.7% in 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).