Douglas’ household incomes are higher than in 98% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 7.5% of Douglas’ labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Residents of Douglas take 29.9 minutes to reach work on average; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. In Douglas, 84% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Douglas
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 84% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 61%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $126,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.9 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Douglas grades A for jobs and income
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #36 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 Douglas
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 93 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 61% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 63% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 67%. 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.
The median household in Douglas had $126,400 in 2020
9 of the 95 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. That puts Douglas 45% above 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).
Without a car, 3% of Douglas’ commuters get to work
27% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters.
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 Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 117,570 people on EI, 3.3 times 2019’s average.
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 Greater Vancouver 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).
Douglas on foot: a B grade
Better than 60% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #176 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Douglas is 84th of 715 Canadian towns of 3,200 to 6,100 people for 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 | Hay River Northwest Territories | 3,317 | 78% | 6.5% | $129K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Smithers British Columbia | 5,627 | 83% | 6% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako British Columbia | 5,829 | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Invermere British Columbia | 4,305 | 82% | 5.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 82 | Bowen Island British Columbia | 4,501 | 88% | 6.1% | $112K | A |
| 83 | Electoral Area C, North Okanagan British Columbia | 5,029 | 76% | 8% | $105K | A |
| 84 | Douglas British Columbia | 4,555 | 84% | 7.5% | $126K | A |
| 85 | North Glenora Alberta | 3,693 | 75% | 12% | $97K | A |
| 86 | Montréal-Ouest Quebec | 5,197 | 82% | 8.7% | $129K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 715 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Douglas, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Around Douglas: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | 84% | 7.5% | $126K | 29.9 min | A | B |
| Grandview 4.2 km | 72% | 8.7% | $108K | 29.6 min | C+ | B+ |
| White Rock 4.4 km | 78% | 8% | $73K | 30.7 min | C | A+ |
| Semiahmoo Town Centre 4.5 km | 71% | 8.2% | $79K | 29.4 min | C− | A+ |
| Sunnyside 5.3 km | 78% | 8.2% | $90K | 29.8 min | B− | A |
| South Surrey 7.1 km | 71% | 9.6% | $104K | 27.9 min | B− | A− |
| Morgan Creek 7.2 km | 73% | 7.5% | $134K | 29.3 min | B | 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 Douglas, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Douglas’ dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Surrey’s page.
Questions about work in Douglas
What is the unemployment rate in Douglas?
The census put unemployment at 7.5% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Vancouver metro area at 6.7%.
What is the average household income in Douglas?
Douglas’s middle household had $126,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Douglas get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 1.2% take public transit and 1.8% walk; on census day 27% of those in work worked from home.
How many jobs are there in Douglas?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Surrey as one municipality.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).