Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area A, Nanaimo’s household incomes are higher than in 69% of Canadian towns
75% of people aged 15 to 64 in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo: 1,705, for 2,185 residents with a usual workplace. When the 2021 census was taken, 8.2% of people in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo who wanted a job had none, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo: what the figures say
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 75% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 54% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 8.2% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.9%. Unemployment ↓
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 Electoral Area A, Nanaimo: graded B
Better than 58% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #109 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.
Each working day, more people leave Electoral Area A, Nanaimo for work than come in
Of those who commute, 21% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
79% of Electoral Area A, Nanaimo’s residents in work leave it to work; Nanaimo takes the most
Nanaimo sends the largest group the other way, 585 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How many in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo were working in 2021
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nanaimo census division, 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 60% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 59%. Counting retirees, 54% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
Half the households in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo had more than $86,700 in 2020
Of the 10 other places of 2,500 or more in the Nanaimo census division, 3 have a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
Electoral Area A, Nanaimo gets to work without a car for 4.4% of commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 93% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%. Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
At 25 minutes, commutes from Electoral Area A, Nanaimo are close to the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Only 27% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. An hour or more: 6% of commuters, close to the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 22.2 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.
EI claims in the Nanaimo census division run 25% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 7,290 people, 2.7 times the 2019 level. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive EI.
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). Electoral Area A, Nanaimo doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Nanaimo census division.
Electoral Area A, Nanaimo earns B− for walkability
Better than 45% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #206 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
292nd of 686: where Electoral Area A, Nanaimo ranks among Canadian towns of 5,500 to 10,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 290 | Lymburn Alberta | 7,231 | 75% | 13% | $96K | B |
| 291 | Blossom Park - Timbermill Ontario | 8,907 | 69% | 12% | $107K | B |
| 292 | Electoral Area A, Nanaimo British Columbia | 7,825 | 75% | 8.2% | $87K | B |
| 293 | Valley Park Ontario | 6,394 | 73% | 11% | $118K | B |
| 294 | Shaughnessy British Columbia | 8,034 | 70% | 8.7% | $139K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 686 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Electoral Area A, Nanaimo, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
How Electoral Area A, Nanaimo compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo | 75% | 8.2% | $87K | 25 min | B | B− |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley 8.3 km | 83% | 4.3% | $86K | 29.1 min | B | C |
| Electoral Area B, Nanaimo 9.5 km | 74% | 8.5% | $60K | 24.3 min | C− | B |
| Ladysmith 12.5 km | 75% | 8% | $81K | 23.8 min | B− | A− |
| Nanaimo 13.7 km | 75% | 8.4% | $76K | 20.5 min | B | A |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 15.9 km | 71% | 8.1% | $102K | 25.4 min | B | C− |
| Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 17.4 km | 72% | 8.3% | $82K | 26.2 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 Electoral Area A, Nanaimo, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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. 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo?
The 2021 census found about 1,705 people with their usual workplace in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo, or 0.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 316 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo?
The 2021 census found 8.2% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Nanaimo metro area, is 4.9% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo?
The median household in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo had $86,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 0.5% take public transit, 3.4% walk and 0.5% cycle; 12% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area A, Nanaimo?
The average commute is 25 minutes; 27% of trips take under 15 minutes and 6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo work?
Only 21% work in Electoral Area A, Nanaimo itself; the rest go first to Nanaimo (1,255) and Ladysmith (150).
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).