Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Smithers have jobs more often than in 88% of Canadian towns
In 2020, a household at the middle of Smithers had $84,900 before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Workers in Smithers spend 13.3 minutes on the way to work on average, and 3.5% need an hour or more. 6% of the labour force in Smithers was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Smithers at work: what stands out
More people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 83% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 67%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5.5% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 3,495 jobs based in Smithers and 2,095 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 13.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.5% 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.
Jobs & income in Smithers: graded A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on three measures together, #2 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.
In Smithers, 83% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
All 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 71% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 67% of residents 15 and over were in work. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 61% in October 2026. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Every working day, Smithers’ workforce grows by 57%
Smithers takes in some 5 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 83% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Smithers
The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 79% of commuters, against 39% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 12.1 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.
1,750 people come into Smithers to work, most from Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako and Telkwa
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako1,240
- Telkwa220
- Houston35
- Bulkley-Nechako G35
- Prince Rupert30
- Burns Lake20
- Electoral Area E, Bulkley-Nechako15
- Brampton10
- Bashaw10
- Chilliwack10
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako205
- Houston35
- Telkwa35
- Hazelton10
- Gitanmaax 110
50% of the people who work in Smithers live outside it, 1,240 of them in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako, 4 km away. Outbound, Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako takes the most: 205 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Smithers’ household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 66% of Canadian towns.
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, 3 have a higher median. The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Smithers is 2% below it. 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).
Walking, cycling or transit: 27% of Smithers’ commuters
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bike: 6.3% of commuters, well above the 0.9% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 72% against 87%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Bulkley-Nechako census division are back near their 2019 level
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 2%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,240 people on EI, 1.8 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 5.5 receive EI.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Bulkley-Nechako census division as a whole, not for Smithers alone.
The Walkability grade for Smithers: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #41 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Smithers is 8th among 712 Canadian towns of 3,900 to 7,600
| # | 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 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| 7 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| 8 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| 9 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| 10 | Battleford Saskatchewan | 4,657 | 82% | 7.5% | $92K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Golden British Columbia | 4,433 | 78% | 7% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 712 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Smithers, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Next to Smithers: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | 83% | 6% | $85K | 13.3 min | A+ | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako 4.2 km | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | 19.8 min | A+ | D |
| Telkwa 13.3 km | 75% | 5.4% | $102K | 27.4 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 Smithers, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Smithers
How long is the commute from Smithers?
About 13.3 minutes on average, with 79% under a quarter-hour and 3.5% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Smithers work?
Most stay: 83% work in Smithers. The rest go first to Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako (205) and Houston (35).
How many jobs are there in Smithers?
Some 3,495 people worked in Smithers at the 2021 census: 1.7 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 498 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Smithers?
At the 2021 census 6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the North Coast and Nechako economic region, gives 5.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Smithers?
Smithers’s middle household had $84,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Smithers get to work?
Driving takes 72% of commuters to work, 1% take public transit, 20% walk and 6.3% cycle, and on census day 13% 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).