Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWelcome Beach has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.3 for each
Half the households in Welcome Beach had more than $75,800 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Welcome Beach had an unemployment rate of 6.3% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Welcome Beach spend 26.8 minutes on the way to work on average, and 6% need an hour or more.
Work in Welcome Beach, in a few figures
Work near the middle
Counting everyone 15 and over, 49% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 75%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 6.3% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
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 Welcome Beach earn C+
Better than 36% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #180 of 254 in British Columbia.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
In Welcome Beach, 75% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Sunshine Coast census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
52% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 49% were working. In October 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
A commuter town: Welcome Beach sends out more workers than it takes in
About 9 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 17% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
83% of Welcome Beach’s residents in work leave it to work; Sechelt takes the most
- Sechelt25
- Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast10
- Sechelt (Part)10
- Sechelt315
- Gibsons50
- Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast45
- Sechelt (Part)40
- Vancouver25
Sechelt sends the largest group the other way, 25 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Welcome Beach earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 53% of Canadian towns.
The middle of British Columbia’s towns is $86,900, and Welcome Beach is 13% below it. Of the 6 other places of 2,500 or more in the Sunshine Coast census division, 3 have a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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, 7.1% of Welcome Beach’s commuters get to work
26% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2.2%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. Nearly everyone drives: 90% 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).
The length of the trip to work in Welcome Beach
Timed exactly, the average is 24.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). Only 20% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
In the Sunshine Coast census division, 40% more people receive EI than in 2019
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,110 people on EI, 2.7 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.6 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 7%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Sunshine Coast 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).
Welcome Beach grades B for walkability
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #180 of 254 in British Columbia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Welcome Beach is 411th of 639 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200 people for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Pemberton British Columbia | 3,620 | 84% | 6.4% | $100K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 59 | Tofino British Columbia | 2,772 | 76% | 12% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | Highlands British Columbia | 2,753 | 83% | 4.9% | $124K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 409 | Studholm New Brunswick | 3,668 | 73% | 9% | $73K | C+ |
| 410 | La Loche Saskatchewan | 3,124 | 33% | 25% | $72K | C+ |
| 411 | Electoral Area B, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 3,130 | 75% | 6.3% | $76K | C+ |
| 412 | Lunenburg Nova Scotia | 2,523 | 71% | 14% | $64K | C+ |
| 413 | Inkster-Faraday Manitoba | 3,700 | 72% | 11% | $73K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | 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 Welcome Beach, and others among British Columbia’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Welcome Beach
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Beach | 75% | 6.3% | $76K | 26.8 min | C+ | B |
| Sechelt 10.9 km | 81% | 6.5% | $73K | 19.8 min | A− | A− |
| Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast 16 km | 73% | 13% | $64K | 29.7 min | D | 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 Welcome Beach, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Welcome Beach as part of Electoral Area B, Sunshine Coast, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Welcome Beach
How many jobs are there in Welcome Beach?
About 150 people had their usual place of work in Welcome Beach at the 2021 census, 0.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 104 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Welcome Beach?
The 2021 census found 6.3% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region, is 6.9% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Welcome Beach?
The median household in Welcome Beach had $75,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Welcome Beach get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 2.2% take public transit and 4.9% walk. On census day 26% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Welcome Beach?
On average 26.8 minutes; 20% take under 15 minutes and 6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Welcome Beach work?
17% work in Welcome Beach itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sechelt (315), then Gibsons (50).
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).