Photo: Northwest · CC BY-SA 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Guildford trails that of 77% of Canadian towns
21% of its commuters take public transit. On average, people in Guildford spend 34.6 minutes getting to work, next to 26 for the middle of Canadian towns. Median household income in Guildford was $81,100 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What the numbers say about work in Guildford
Work near the middle
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 69% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 59%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 34.6 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.
On jobs and income, Guildford grades D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #237 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.
Guildford gets to work without a car for 27% of commuters
The car takes 72% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Guildford at work: 69% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division, 12 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 63% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
How Guildford’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 59% of Canadian towns.
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Guildford is 7% below it. 79 of the 95 other places of 2,500+ in the Greater Vancouver census division have a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
EI claims in the Greater Vancouver census division run 63% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 4%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 117,570 people on EI, 3.3 times 2019’s average. Roughly 3.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw 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). Guildford doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Greater Vancouver census division.
Guildford grades A+ for walkability
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #28 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Guildford places 488th of 560 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 10,300 to 19,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Oak Bay British Columbia | 18,626 | 80% | 7% | $108K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 486 | Walkerville Ontario | 19,541 | 54% | 20% | $60K | D |
| 487 | DT Fairview Ontario | 18,209 | 67% | 15% | $80K | D |
| 488 | Guildford British Columbia | 14,663 | 69% | 10% | $81K | D |
| 489 | Downtown Yonge East Ontario | 18,251 | 69% | 14% | $71K | D |
| 490 | Southcrest Ontario | 14,477 | 67% | 14% | $55K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 560 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Guildford, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
The places around Guildford, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guildford | 69% | 10% | $81K | 34.6 min | D | A+ |
| Johnston Heights 1.3 km | 73% | 8.8% | $89K | 34.6 min | C | A+ |
| Birdland 1.6 km | 71% | 9.6% | $99K | 33.7 min | C | A+ |
| Fraser Heights 2.2 km | 70% | 8.4% | $122K | 30.8 min | C+ | A− |
| Port Mann 3 km | 68% | 11% | $102K | 35.1 min | C− | A− |
| Fleetwood 3.9 km | 72% | 7.9% | $109K | 32.6 min | C+ | A |
| Whalley 4 km | 71% | 10% | $75K | 37.1 min | D | A+ |
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 Guildford, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
- Neighbourhood figures. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Guildford’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Surrey’s page.
Questions about work in Guildford
How many jobs are there in Guildford?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Surrey has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Guildford?
The census put unemployment at 10% 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 Guildford?
Guildford’s middle household had $81,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Guildford get to work?
Driving takes 72% of commuters to work, 21% take public transit and 6% walk, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
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).