Photo: FedexPope · CC BY 3.0Working-age people in Victoria have jobs more often than in 84% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Victoria had more than $72,100 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Victoria: 235, for 315 residents with a usual workplace. The 2021 census put unemployment in Victoria at 0%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What stands out about work in Victoria
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 82% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 63% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment stood at 0% on census day in 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $72,100 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.3% last an hour or longer. 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 Victoria earn B+
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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 Victoria, 82% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 63% were working. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 64%. 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.
How Victoria’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 61% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Manitoba’s towns is $83,900, and Victoria is 14% below it. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
22.7 minutes from Victoria to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 20.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). Only 40% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. 7.3% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Manitoba’s towns has 5.5%.
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.
Victoria is quieter on a working day than at night
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. The job is inside the municipality for 42% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
58% of Victoria’s residents in work leave it to work; Norfolk-Treherne takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Lorne (30).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Leaving the car at home: 15% of commuters in Victoria
Fewer drive than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 83% against 87%. 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 12% against 3.8%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
17% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 8 than in 2019
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 450 people on EI, 2.2 times 2019’s average. That is about 3.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of Census Division No. 8. 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 Victoria earns B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Victoria, side by side
The nearest places to Victoria with figures are 21–39 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 82% | 0% | $72K | 22.7 min | B+ | B |
| Norfolk-Treherne 21.2 km | 71% | 6.7% | $77K | 24.1 min | C+ | C |
| Glenboro-South Cypress 24.9 km | 76% | 11% | $72K | 22.9 min | B− | B |
| Lorne 34.1 km | 84% | 5.1% | $69K | 21.7 min | A− | A− |
| Carberry 37.8 km | 79% | 5.7% | $70K | 20.6 min | B+ | A− |
| Argyle 38.6 km | 78% | 5.1% | $71K | 24.2 min | B− | 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 Victoria, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Victoria
How many jobs are there in Victoria?
The 2021 census found about 235 people with their usual workplace in Victoria, or 0.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 72 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Victoria?
On census day in May 2021 unemployment stood at 0%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Victoria?
Victoria’s middle household had $72,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Victoria get to work?
83% of commuters drive, 12% walk and 2.4% cycle; 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Victoria?
The average commute is 22.7 minutes; 40% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.3% an hour or more.
Where do people in Victoria work?
42% work in Victoria itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Norfolk-Treherne (60), then Lorne (35).
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, 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).