Telkwa has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
In May 2021, unemployment in Telkwa reached 5.4%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 11% of workers in Telkwa; the average is 27.4 minutes. The median household in Telkwa had $101,500 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Telkwa and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.5% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 5.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $101,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs and income in Telkwa earn B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
75% of working-age people in Telkwa have jobs
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 68%. In October 2026, 61% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Household income in Telkwa
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 87% of Canadian towns.
No other place of 2,500 or more in the Bulkley-Nechako census division has a higher median. The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Telkwa is 17% above it. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
Each working day, more people leave Telkwa for work than come in
410 residents of Telkwa had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 215 people had theirs in Telkwa, wherever they lived.
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 17% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
83% of Telkwa’s residents in work leave it to work; Smithers takes the most
- Smithers220
- Houston55
- Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako50
- Kitimat-Stikine A (RDA)15
Coming the other way, Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako sends the most (100).
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 Telkwa work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Telkwa gets to work without a car for 5.7% of commuters
Only 13% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 3.3%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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.
Commuting times in Telkwa
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 31 minutes. The middle of British Columbia’s towns averages 26.4 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 26%, fewer 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.
EI claims in the Bulkley-Nechako census division are back near their 2019 level
In April 2021 it reached 2,240, the most in the series and 1.8 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 5.5 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Bulkley-Nechako 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 Telkwa earns C
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Telkwa, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telkwa | 75% | 5.4% | $102K | 27.4 min | B | C |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako 10.1 km | 82% | 7.4% | $98K | 19.8 min | A+ | D |
| Smithers 13.3 km | 83% | 6% | $85K | 13.3 min | A+ | 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 Telkwa, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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.
- 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.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about work in Telkwa
How do people in Telkwa get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 3.3% take public transit and 2.4% walk; on census day 13% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Telkwa?
27.4 minutes is the average trip, with 26% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 11% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Telkwa work?
17% work in Telkwa itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Smithers (220), then Houston (55).
How many jobs are there in Telkwa?
Statistics Canada counted 44 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Telkwa?
At the 2021 census 5.4% 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 Telkwa?
The median household in Telkwa had $101,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).