Photo: runran from An island in the stream · CC BY-SA 2.0More of Yellowhead’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 94% of Canadian towns
Yellowhead had an unemployment rate of 5.6% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Working at home: 31% of its workers, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Half the households in Yellowhead had more than $65,800 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Yellowhead
More people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 85% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 56%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 5.8% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 5.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $65,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Yellowhead grades B
Better than 63% 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 Yellowhead, 85% of the working-age population has a job
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 59% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 56% of residents 15 and over were in work. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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 Yellowhead’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 76% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Manitoba’s towns is $83,900, and Yellowhead is 22% below 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).
About as many people come in to work in Yellowhead as leave
The job is inside the municipality for 59% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
41% of Yellowhead’s residents in work leave it to work; Prairie View takes the most
- Prairie View35
- Harrison Park30
- Minnedosa20
- Rossburn20
- Hamiota15
- Virden10
- Brandon10
- Riverdale10
- Winnipeg10
- Rocanville10
In the other direction the biggest source is Oakview, with 40.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 14% of Yellowhead’s commuters
On foot: 13% of commuters, well above the 3.8% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 86% against 87%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Yellowhead has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 23.6 minutes
A quarter-hour or less for 47% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. 7.6% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Manitoba’s towns has 5.5%. Timed exactly, the average is 21.9 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.
16% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 15 than in 2019
Yellowhead doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from Census Division No. 15.
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 4%. At its peak, in January 2021, 970 people were on EI, 2.1 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.7 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).
Walking in Yellowhead earns A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Yellowhead, compared
Distances here run 28–34 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Yellowhead.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowhead | 85% | 5.6% | $66K | 23.6 min | B | A− |
| Hamiota 28 km | 94% | 3.1% | $73K | 17.9 min | A | A |
| Rossburn 30.5 km | 91% | 3.1% | $59K | 20.4 min | B+ | A− |
| Prairie View 32.3 km | 84% | 4.7% | $74K | 22.9 min | A− | B+ |
| Harrison Park 33.2 km | 82% | 5.1% | $71K | 22.8 min | B+ | C− |
| Waywayseecappo First Nation 34.3 km | 36% | 24% | $44K | 16.3 min | D | 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 Yellowhead, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- 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. 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. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Yellowhead
How many jobs are there in Yellowhead?
The 2021 census found about 430 people with their usual workplace in Yellowhead, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 78 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Yellowhead?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 5.6% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Southwest economic region at 5.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Yellowhead?
Yellowhead’s middle household had $65,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Yellowhead get to work?
86% of commuters drive, 13% walk and 1.7% cycle; 31% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Yellowhead?
The average commute is 23.6 minutes; 47% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Yellowhead work?
Most stay: 59% work in Yellowhead. The rest go first to Prairie View (35) and Harrison Park (30).
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).