Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Working-age people in Sechelt are more likely to have a job than in 81% of Canadian towns
Before tax, the typical household in Sechelt brought in $73,100 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 4.8% of workers in Sechelt; the average is 19.8 minutes. Unemployment in Sechelt stood at 6.5% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The short version on work in Sechelt
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 81% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 49%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
6.5% 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 6.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
More jobs than the typical town
2,950 people work in Sechelt and 2,755 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 19.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.8% 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.
Sechelt grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #48 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Work and the working-age population of Sechelt
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Sunshine Coast census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 52% of residents that age. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 49% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 63% in work in October 2026. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Every working day, Sechelt’s workforce grows by 5%
2,755 residents of Sechelt had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 2,950 people had theirs in Sechelt, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 64% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Sechelt takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.5 minutes. In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 56%, more than the 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.
1,198 people come into Sechelt to work, most from Welcome Beach and Roberts Creek
- Sechelt (Part)360
- Gibsons220
- Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast135
- Vancouver85
- Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast45
- Welcome Beach25
- Roberts Creek25
- Burnaby20
- West Vancouver20
- Richmond15
Of everyone working in Sechelt, 41% come in from elsewhere; 315 make the 11 km trip from Welcome Beach. The main destination the other way is Sechelt (Part), with 360.
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 Sechelt work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Sechelt’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 59% of Canadian towns.
That puts Sechelt 16% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. 4 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Sunshine Coast census division have a higher median. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Sechelt gets to work without a car for 11% of commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 8% against 4.6%. By car, truck or van: 86% of commuters, much as in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 20% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 2.3% 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 Sunshine Coast census division run 40% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 7%. In January 2021 it reached 1,110, the most in the series and 2.7 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. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Sunshine Coast 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 Sechelt earns A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #134 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Sechelt ranks: 105th of 649 Canadian towns of 8,100 to 15,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 2 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 3 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Revelstoke British Columbia | 9,464 | 77% | 10% | $97K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 84% | 5.5% | $77K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 103 | Macdonald Manitoba | 9,215 | 82% | 4.9% | $135K | A− |
| 104 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| 105 | Sechelt British Columbia | 11,558 | 81% | 6.5% | $73K | A− |
| 106 | Charlesbourg Quebec | 9,660 | 80% | 5.3% | $77K | A− |
| 107 | Taber Alberta | 10,175 | 74% | 6.5% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 649 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sechelt, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Work in the places around Sechelt
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sechelt | 81% | 6.5% | $73K | 19.8 min | A− | A− |
| Welcome Beach 10.9 km | 75% | 6.3% | $76K | 26.8 min | C+ | B |
| Roberts Creek 11.6 km | 87% | 7.4% | $83K | 23.5 min | A | B− |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast 18.2 km | 77% | 6.1% | $86K | 21.4 min | A− | 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 Sechelt, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Sechelt
How long is the commute from Sechelt?
19.8 minutes is the average trip, with 56% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.8% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Sechelt work?
Most stay: 64% work in Sechelt. The rest go first to Sechelt (Part) (360) and Gibsons (220).
How many jobs are there in Sechelt?
The 2021 census counted about 2,950 people working in Sechelt: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 497 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sechelt?
The census put unemployment at 6.5% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region at 6.9%.
What is the average household income in Sechelt?
The census puts Sechelt at $73,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sechelt get to work?
By car: 86% of commuters, 2.3% take public transit, 8% walk and 1.1% cycle; on census day 20% of those in work worked from 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).