Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Strathcona earn less than in almost any other Canadian town
Jobs were held by 53% of people aged 15 to 64 in Strathcona in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. 19% of its commuters take public transit. Of everyone in Strathcona working or looking for work in May 2021, 12% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Strathcona at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 53% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 50%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $43,000 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 32% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 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.
Jobs and income in Strathcona earn D−
Better than 3% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #2,530 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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 and out of work in Strathcona
None of the 95 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Greater Vancouver census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 57%. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Median household income in Strathcona: $43,000 in 2020
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Greater Vancouver census division has a higher median. Against the middle of British Columbia’s towns ($86,900), Strathcona’s median is 51% below. 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).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
Walking, cycling or transit: 55% of Strathcona’s commuters
By bike: 11% of commuters, well above the 0.9% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. 43% drive to work, fewer than the 87% in the middle of British Columbia’s towns. Working at home: 32% here, 21% in 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
63% more people are on EI in the Greater Vancouver census division than in 2019
Compared with a year earlier, 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. 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). Strathcona shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Greater Vancouver census division.
Strathcona on foot: a A+ grade
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #1 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Strathcona and other Canadian towns of 9,600 to 18,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Saltspring Island British Columbia | 12,429 | 84% | 5.5% | $77K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 585 | Mount Dennis Ontario | 13,364 | 60% | 19% | $71K | D− |
| 586 | Scarborough Village Ontario | 16,774 | 56% | 18% | $72K | D− |
| 587 | Strathcona British Columbia | 13,783 | 53% | 12% | $43K | D− |
| 588 | Kennedy Park Ontario | 17,156 | 57% | 18% | $71K | D− |
| 589 | Durand Ontario | 13,338 | 65% | 13% | $49K | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 595 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Strathcona, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
How Strathcona compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strathcona | 53% | 12% | $43K | 25.9 min | D− | A+ |
| Yaletown 1.7 km | 77% | 8.3% | $84K | 25.9 min | B | A+ |
| Mount Pleasant 1.7 km | 83% | 7.6% | $87K | 26.4 min | A− | A+ |
| Grandview-Woodland 1.8 km | 79% | 9.2% | $72K | 28.7 min | C+ | A+ |
| Granville Entertainment District 2.4 km | 73% | 9% | $72K | 26.1 min | C | A+ |
| Coal Harbour 2.8 km | 77% | 8.1% | $87K | 24 min | B+ | A+ |
| Little Saigon 3.1 km | 80% | 7.7% | $96K | 28.7 min | B+ | 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 Strathcona, 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Strathcona’s figures add those up. Vancouver’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Strathcona
How many jobs are there in Strathcona?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Vancouver as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Strathcona?
The 2021 census found 12% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Vancouver metro area, is 6.7% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Strathcona?
At $43,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Strathcona compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Strathcona get to work?
43% of commuters drive, 19% take public transit, 25% walk and 11% cycle; 32% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).