Photo: Buiobuione · CC BY-SA 4.0Tofino has higher household incomes than 68% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census found 76% of working-age people in Tofino employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. From Tofino, the drive or ride to work averages 14 minutes, with 3.1% going an hour or longer. Tofino had an unemployment rate of 12% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Tofino
A local job centre
1,185 people work in Tofino and 905 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 14 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.1% take an hour or more. 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 and income in Tofino earn A
Better than 92% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #17 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
A working day adds 23% to the people at work in Tofino
About 4 people arrive to work in Tofino for each resident who goes out. Of those who commute, 88% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 14 minutes, commutes from Tofino are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of British Columbia’s towns, the average commute is 26.4 minutes. Timed exactly, the average is 13.3 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
385 people come into Tofino to work, most from Ucluelet and Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot
- Ucluelet95
- Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot70
- Port Alberni25
- Marktosis 1525
- Vancouver20
- Opitsat 120
- Nanaimo15
- Campbell River15
- Delta10
- Cole Bay 310
- Ucluelet35
- Saltspring Island10
- Victoria10
- Marktosis 1510
Of everyone working in Tofino, 32% come in from elsewhere; 95 make the 35 km trip from Ucluelet. Outbound, Ucluelet takes the most: 35 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Tofino has a job
A larger share in work than in 55% of Canadian towns.
In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 85%. 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.
$86,100 a year: the median household in Tofino
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Tofino is 1% below it. 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).
Without a car, 35% of Tofino’s commuters get to work
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of British Columbia’s towns has 0.9% cycling; here, 11% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of British Columbia’s towns: 61% against 87%. Working at home: 20%, close to the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Alberni-Clayoquot census division run 8% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in January 2021, 2,160 people were on EI, 2.5 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.2 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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). Tofino doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Alberni-Clayoquot census division.
Everyday places on foot in Tofino: A
Better than 91% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #92 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Tofino places 54th of 497 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 52 | Unity Saskatchewan | 2,543 | 81% | 4.5% | $81K | A |
| 53 | Buckland No. 491 Saskatchewan | 3,550 | 78% | 6.3% | $111K | A |
| 54 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| 55 | Scott Quebec | 2,938 | 87% | 4.1% | $90K | A |
| 56 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Mackenzie British Columbia | 3,442 | 78% | 12% | $88K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 69 | Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine British Columbia | 3,189 | 83% | 8% | $97K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Tofino, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
How the places next to Tofino compare on work
Distances here run 22–79 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Tofino.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tofino | 76% | 12% | $86K | 14 min | A | A |
| Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot 21.9 km | 60% | 16% | $71K | 21.5 min | C− | B− |
| Ucluelet 35 km | 77% | 8.1% | $83K | 17.2 min | A | A+ |
| Electoral Area D, Alberni-Clayoquot 70.2 km | 74% | 8.2% | $86K | 26 min | B− | C− |
| Gold River 70.9 km | 70% | 6.5% | $66K | 25.1 min | C− | A |
| Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot 78.7 km | 77% | 5.4% | $80K | 20.9 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 Tofino, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Tofino
What is the unemployment rate in Tofino?
The census put unemployment at 12% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Vancouver Island and Coast economic region at 5.2%.
What is the average household income in Tofino?
The census puts Tofino at $86,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Tofino get to work?
61% of commuters drive, 24% walk and 11% cycle; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Tofino?
The average commute is 14 minutes; 76% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Tofino work?
Most stay: 88% work in Tofino. The rest go first to Ucluelet (35) and Saltspring Island (10).
How many jobs are there in Tofino?
The 2021 census found about 1,185 people with their usual workplace in Tofino, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 202 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).