Montrose has 0.1 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Montrose had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census put unemployment in Montrose at 4.4%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Before tax, the typical household in Montrose brought in $94,300 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Work in Montrose: the figures worth knowing
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 4.4% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.1%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 18.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 0% 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 & income in Montrose: graded A−
Better than 84% 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.
Work and the working-age population of Montrose
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kootenay Boundary census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 54% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 55%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 53%: many residents are past working age. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 18.7 minutes from Montrose
Trips under 15 minutes: 40%, more than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 0% take an hour or more, against 6.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 17.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 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.
A commuter town: Montrose sends out more workers than it takes in
About 19 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 0% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
100% of Montrose’s residents in work leave it to work; Trail takes the most
Coming the other way, Trail sends the most (15).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Montrose’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 80% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Montrose’s median is 9% above. One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Kootenay Boundary census division has a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walking, cycling or transit: 0% of Montrose’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 8.1%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 96% 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).
EI claims in the Kootenay Boundary census division run 33% above their 2019 level
The highest month was January 2021: 1,740 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell 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). Montrose doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Kootenay Boundary census division.
How walkable Montrose is: C+
Better than 43% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Next to Montrose: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose | 73% | 4.4% | $94K | 18.7 min | A− | C+ |
| Fruitvale 4.9 km | 75% | 7% | $83K | 24.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary 5.1 km | 75% | 6.1% | $96K | 22.4 min | A− | C+ |
| Trail 7.8 km | 69% | 7.9% | $68K | 15.1 min | C+ | A− |
| Warfield 11.6 km | 72% | 7.1% | $89K | 17.5 min | A− | B− |
| Rossland 15.1 km | 77% | 11% | $96K | 18.3 min | A | A+ |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary 16.3 km | 65% | 8.8% | $83K | 22.2 min | C+ | 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 Montrose, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Montrose
How many jobs are there in Montrose?
The 2021 census found about 15 people with their usual workplace in Montrose, or 0.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 14 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Montrose?
The 2021 census found 4.4% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Kootenay economic region, is 4.1% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Montrose?
Montrose’s middle household had $94,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Montrose get to work?
96% of commuters drive; 8.1% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Montrose?
The average commute is 18.7 minutes; 40% of trips take under 15 minutes and 0% an hour or more.
Where do people in Montrose work?
0% work in Montrose itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Trail (225), then Castlegar (25).
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).