Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area A, qathet has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 91% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Electoral Area A, qathet stood at 20% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The census counted 95 people working in Electoral Area A, qathet and 215 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Median household income in Electoral Area A, qathet was $61,500 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Electoral Area A, qathet
Fewer people in work than most towns
62% 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 41%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
20% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $61,500 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
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 Electoral Area A, qathet: D
Better than 9% 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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Electoral Area A, qathet: 62%
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 41%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 56% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 52% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Electoral Area A, qathet’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 85% of Canadian towns.
That puts Electoral Area A, qathet 29% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. 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).
More workers leave Electoral Area A, qathet each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 4 residents going out. Of those who commute, 26% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
74% of Electoral Area A, qathet’s residents in work leave it to work; Powell River takes the most
- Powell River25
- Sliammon 110
- Powell River155
Inbound, the leader is Powell River (25).
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 Electoral Area A, qathet work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 14% of Electoral Area A, qathet’s commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 82% against 87%. Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
At 24.6 minutes, commutes from Electoral Area A, qathet are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Only 29% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 3.1% take an hour or more, against 6.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 24.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
In the Powell River census division, 21% more people receive EI than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.2 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 11%. The highest month was February 2021: 950 people, 2.4 times the 2019 level.
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, qathet doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Powell River census division.
How walkable Electoral Area A, qathet is: B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Electoral Area A, qathet compares with the places nearby
The nearest places to Electoral Area A, qathet with figures are 23–28 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, qathet | 62% | 20% | $62K | 24.6 min | D | B |
| Electoral Area B, Strathcona 23.1 km | 77% | 10% | $49K | 17.8 min | C+ | B+ |
| Powell River 23.3 km | 71% | 7.7% | $67K | 14.7 min | B− | A− |
| Electoral Area B, qathet 27.9 km | 72% | 5.4% | $65K | 16.4 min | B− | C− |
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, qathet, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. 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.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; 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. 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.
- 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 Electoral Area A, qathet
What is the average household income in Electoral Area A, qathet?
Electoral Area A, qathet’s middle household had $61,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Electoral Area A, qathet get to work?
82% of commuters go by car, 14% walk. On census day 28% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Electoral Area A, qathet?
On average 24.6 minutes; 29% take under 15 minutes and 3.1% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Electoral Area A, qathet work?
26% work in Electoral Area A, qathet itself; of those who leave, the most go to Powell River (155).
How many jobs are there in Electoral Area A, qathet?
About 95 people had their usual place of work in Electoral Area A, qathet at the 2021 census, 0.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 43 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Electoral Area A, qathet?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 20%, against 9.9% 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, 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).