Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd · CC0Working-age people in New Westminster are more likely to have a job than in 62% of Canadian towns
Public transit carries 23% of its commuters. Workers in New Westminster spend 32.6 minutes on the way to work on average, and 8.5% need an hour or more. Half the households in New Westminster had more than $82,400 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What the numbers say about work in New Westminster
Work near the middle
77% 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 64%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 32.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.5% 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 New Westminster: C+
Better than 35% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #182 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
The length of the trip to work in New Westminster
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 17%, fewer than the 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 29.1 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
More go out than come in: the working day in New Westminster
26,445 residents of New Westminster had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 21,955 people had theirs in New Westminster, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 22% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
78% of New Westminster’s residents in work leave it to work; Vancouver takes the most
- Surrey4,445
- Burnaby2,810
- Vancouver2,330
- Coquitlam1,685
- Maple Ridge710
- Delta680
- Port Coquitlam650
- Langley580
- Richmond525
- Port Moody395
- Vancouver5,930
- Burnaby5,515
- Richmond2,465
- Surrey2,080
- Delta1,455
- Coquitlam1,010
- Langley365
- North Vancouver310
- North Vancouver305
- Port Coquitlam300
Of those coming in, Surrey supplies the most: 4,445.
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 New Westminster work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In New Westminster, 77% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 72 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 64% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 63% of the wider area’s adults in work. 70% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
How New Westminster’s household incomes compare
78 of the 95 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and New Westminster is 5% below it. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 30% of New Westminster’s commuters
The car takes 68% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Working at home: 26% here, 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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.
EI claims in the Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%. In January 2021 it reached 117,570, the most in the series and 3.3 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Greater Vancouver 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 New Westminster: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #24 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, New Westminster is 35th of 46 Canadian towns of 64,500 to 124,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 73% | 12% | $103K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kamloops British Columbia | 108,793 | 75% | 7.4% | $88K | A− |
| 6 | Prince George British Columbia | 85,944 | 73% | 9.4% | $88K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Brossard Quebec | 97,597 | 74% | 9.5% | $84K | C+ |
| 34 | Chatham-Kent Ontario | 112,716 | 69% | 11% | $72K | C+ |
| 35 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 77% | 8.3% | $82K | C+ |
| 36 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 71% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 37 | Saint John New Brunswick | 79,371 | 69% | 11% | $63K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of New Westminster, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Around New Westminster: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Westminster | 77% | 8.3% | $82K | 32.6 min | C+ | A+ |
| East Burnaby 2.3 km | 72% | 8.3% | $108K | 31.1 min | C+ | A+ |
| Edmonds 2.9 km | 71% | 9.9% | $77K | 33.9 min | D | A+ |
| Bridgeview 3.7 km | 62% | 12% | $86K | 40 min | D | A− |
| Buckingham Heights 4 km | 71% | 7.9% | $118K | 29.6 min | B− | A |
| Brownsville 4.6 km | 72% | 8.9% | $98K | 35.4 min | C | A+ |
| Royal Oak 4.7 km | 71% | 11% | $88K | 31.2 min | C | 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 New Westminster, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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 New Westminster
What is the average household income in New Westminster?
Before tax, half the households in New Westminster had more than $82,400 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in New Westminster get to work?
68% of commuters go by car, 23% take public transit, 6.3% walk and 0.9% cycle. On census day 26% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from New Westminster?
On average 32.6 minutes; 17% take under 15 minutes and 8.5% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in New Westminster work?
22% work in New Westminster itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Vancouver (5,930), then Burnaby (5,515).
How many jobs are there in New Westminster?
About 21,955 people had their usual place of work in New Westminster at the 2021 census, 0.8 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 2,555 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in New Westminster?
At the 2021 census 8.3% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Vancouver metro area, gives 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).