Photo: Murray Foubister · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Nisga'a have jobs less often than in 96% of Canadian towns
An hour or more each way is the commute for 8.6% of workers in Nisga'a; the average is 18.1 minutes. Before tax, the typical household in Nisga'a brought in $80,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. 19% of the labour force in Nisga'a was out of work at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Work in Nisga'a: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 56% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 44%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021, 19% of those working or looking had no job; the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 18.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 8.6% 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.
Nisga'a earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 43% 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.
Nisga'a at work: 56% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kitimat-Stikine census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 44%: many residents are past working age. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 54% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Time on the road to work from Nisga'a
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 17.3 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 73% 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.
About as many people come in to work in Nisga'a as leave
Of those who commute, 88% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
12% of Nisga'a’s residents in work leave it to work; Prince Rupert takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Terrace, with 15.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Nisga'a
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 57% of Canadian towns.
That puts Nisga'a 7% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Kitimat-Stikine census division has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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, 28% of Nisga'a’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 4.1%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 2.6% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 24% of commuters, well above the 4.6% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 70% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
14% more people are on EI in the Kitimat-Stikine census division than in 2019
That is about 5.1 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. In February 2021 it reached 2,560, the most in the series and 2.3 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). Nisga'a doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Kitimat-Stikine census division.
Nisga'a earns A− for walkability
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Nisga'a
Nisga'a has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 82–115 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nisga'a | 56% | 19% | $81K | 18.1 min | C+ | A− |
| Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine 81.7 km | 83% | 8% | $97K | 25.9 min | A | C− |
| Terrace 85.8 km | 77% | 6.5% | $91K | 15.9 min | A+ | A− |
| Electoral Area E, Kitimat-Stikine 88.9 km | 73% | 11% | $86K | 18.1 min | A− | C |
| Electoral Area B, Kitimat-Stikine 105.9 km | 65% | 19% | $64K | 29.8 min | D− | C |
| Prince Rupert 114.6 km | 75% | 9.5% | $96K | 13 min | A+ | 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 Nisga'a, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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.
- 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Nisga'a
How do people in Nisga'a get to work?
By car: 70% of commuters, 2.6% take public transit, 24% walk and 1.7% cycle; on census day 4.1% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Nisga'a?
18.1 minutes is the average trip, with 73% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.6% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Nisga'a work?
88% work in Nisga'a itself; of those who leave, the most go to Prince Rupert (10), then Terrace (10).
How many jobs are there in Nisga'a?
The 2021 census counted about 435 people working in Nisga'a: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 18 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Nisga'a?
About 19%, by the census of May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Nisga'a?
The median household in Nisga'a had $80,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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, 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).