Photo: Mangoandmay · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Sicamous have lower incomes than those in 77% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Sicamous stood at 11% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census found 70% of working-age people in Sicamous employed, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. For 7.9% of commuters in Sicamous, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 23.6 minutes.
What Sicamous’ work numbers say
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $65,200 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
735 people work in Sicamous and 660 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Sicamous grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #225 of 254 in British Columbia.
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.
Sicamous households: $65,200 a year at the median
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Columbia-Shuswap census division has a higher median. That puts Sicamous 25% below the median of British Columbia’s towns, $86,900. 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).
Sicamous fills up on a working day: 10% more workers
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
351 people come into Sicamous to work, most from Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap and Salmon Arm
- Salmon Arm125
- Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap50
- Revelstoke25
- Armstrong20
- Fort McMurray10
- Blind Bay10
- Switsemalph10
Of everyone working in Sicamous, 48% come in from elsewhere; 145 make the 9 km trip from Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Salmon Arm (125).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Sicamous
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Columbia-Shuswap census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 51%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 45% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. 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.
Without a car, 13% of Sicamous’ commuters get to work
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 12% of commuters, well above the 4.6% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. The car takes 82% of commuters here, under 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).
Time on the road to work from Sicamous
A quarter-hour or less for 47% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.8 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 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.
23% more people are on EI in the Columbia-Shuswap census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,670 people on EI, 2.5 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 4.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across 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 Columbia-Shuswap 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 Sicamous earns A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #132 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Sicamous places 433rd of 553 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 431 | Kameyosek Alberta | 2,761 | 59% | 24% | $78K | C− |
| 432 | Stanstead Quebec | 2,994 | 72% | 6.8% | $55K | C− |
| 433 | Sicamous British Columbia | 2,854 | 70% | 11% | $65K | C− |
| 434 | Labelle Quebec | 2,861 | 76% | 8.5% | $62K | C− |
| 435 | Bright New Brunswick | 3,648 | 72% | 11% | $76K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sicamous, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs near Sicamous: the places around it
Sicamous has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–29 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicamous | 70% | 11% | $65K | 23.6 min | C− | A− |
| Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap 9.3 km | 72% | 19% | $59K | 23.6 min | C− | C+ |
| Electoral Area F, North Okanagan 22.2 km | 78% | 7.6% | $73K | 27.8 min | C+ | C |
| Salmon Arm 24.4 km | 78% | 7.9% | $75K | 17.5 min | A− | A− |
| Blind Bay 27.8 km | 70% | 9.3% | $75K | 28.6 min | C− | C+ |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap 28.9 km | 67% | 13% | $66K | 30.7 min | D | 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 Sicamous, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Sicamous
What is the unemployment rate in Sicamous?
At the 2021 census 11% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Thompson-Okanagan economic region, gives 6.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Sicamous?
At $65,200 before tax in 2020, the median household in Sicamous compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sicamous get to work?
By car: 82% of commuters, 12% walk and 1.1% cycle; on census day 9% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Sicamous?
23.6 minutes is the average trip, with 47% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 7.9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Sicamous work?
58% work in Sicamous itself; of those who leave, the most go to Salmon Arm (125), then Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap (50).
How many jobs are there in Sicamous?
The 2021 census counted about 735 people working in Sicamous: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 133 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).