Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Oliver earn less than those in 70% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 8.4% of Oliver’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Workers in Oliver spend 16.8 minutes on the way to work on average, and 2.7% need an hour or more. In Oliver, 78% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Oliver at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $68,700 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
2,495 people work in Oliver and 1,565 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 16.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.7% take an hour or more. 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 and income in Oliver earn B+
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
$68,700 a year: the median household in Oliver
Oliver’s median is 21% below the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900). 2 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Workers pour into Oliver: 54% more on a working day
1,565 residents of Oliver had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 2,495 people had theirs in Oliver, wherever they lived.
For every resident who leaves Oliver for work, about 3 people come in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Oliver takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.8 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 67% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
1,421 people come into Oliver to work, most from Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen and Penticton
Of everyone working in Oliver, 57% come in from elsewhere; 565 make the 4 km trip from Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen. Outbound, Penticton takes the most: 140 people.
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 Oliver work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In and out of work in Oliver
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Okanagan-Similkameen census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 46% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 56% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 50%. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
12% of commuters from Oliver go without a car
The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 4.6% walking; here, 9.8% do. Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns, at 87%. Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% 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 Okanagan-Similkameen census division run 27% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.5 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 15%. The highest month was February 2021: 5,270 people, 2.6 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Okanagan-Similkameen 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).
Walking in Oliver earns A
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #80 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 701 Canadian towns of 3,700 to 7,100, Oliver comes 202nd on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | Neepawa Manitoba | 6,328 | 85% | 2.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 200 | Montgomery Alberta | 4,456 | 75% | 12% | $90K | B+ |
| 201 | Maple Alberta | 3,920 | 76% | 12% | $114K | B+ |
| 202 | Oliver British Columbia | 5,262 | 78% | 8.4% | $69K | B+ |
| 203 | Howick Ontario | 4,517 | 85% | 3.6% | $84K | B+ |
| 204 | Electoral Area C, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 5,074 | 83% | 5.9% | $91K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 701 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Oliver, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work next door to Oliver
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oliver | 78% | 8.4% | $69K | 16.8 min | B+ | A |
| Electoral Area C, Okanagan-Similkameen 3.6 km | 74% | 7.5% | $68K | 21.5 min | C+ | B |
| Osoyoos 1 4.4 km | 42% | 11% | $74K | 20.1 min | C | C+ |
| Electoral Area B, Okanagan-Similkameen 13.4 km | 84% | 7.2% | $64K | 24 min | B | A− |
| Osoyoos 18.9 km | 74% | 12% | $66K | 17.4 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 Oliver, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Oliver
How long is the commute from Oliver?
About 16.8 minutes on average, with 67% under a quarter-hour and 2.7% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Oliver work?
Most stay: 69% work in Oliver. The rest go first to Penticton (140) and Osoyoos (130).
How many jobs are there in Oliver?
Some 2,495 people worked in Oliver at the 2021 census: 1.6 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 224 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Oliver?
Two figures answer it: 8.4% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.6% for the Thompson-Okanagan economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Oliver?
At $68,700 before tax in 2020, the median household in Oliver compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Oliver get to work?
Driving takes 87% of commuters to work, 0.5% take public transit, 9.8% walk and 1.6% cycle, and on census day 8.4% of those in work were at home.
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).