Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Working-age people in Gander have jobs less often than in 81% of Canadian towns
The 2021 census put unemployment in Gander at 14%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Workers in Gander spend 12.3 minutes on the way to work on average, and 3.7% need an hour or more. Median household income in Gander was $79,900 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Gander
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 67% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 52%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 14% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 10% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 4,960 jobs based in Gander and 4,140 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 12.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.7% 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.
On jobs and income, Gander grades B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #9 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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.
67% of working-age people in Gander have jobs
All 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 43% in work in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 61%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 52% of residents 15 and over were 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.
Workers pour into Gander: 18% more on a working day
Gander takes in some 4 workers for every resident it sends out. Of those who commute, 92% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Gander
Timed exactly, the average is 12.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the average commute is 19 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 87%, more than the 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’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.
1,143 people come into Gander to work, most from Division No. 8, Subdivision L and Gambo
- Division No. 8, Subdivision L270
- Gambo150
- Appleton125
- Glenwood110
- Lewisporte70
- Grand Falls-Windsor45
- Carmanville45
- Division No. 6, Subd. E35
- Glovertown25
- Musgrave Harbour25
- St. John's50
- Witless Bay30
- Glenwood30
- Gambo20
- Bay Bulls15
- Grand Falls-Windsor15
- Division No. 8, Subdivision L15
- Lewisporte15
- Mount Pearl10
- Carmanville10
23% of the people who work in Gander live outside it, 270 of them in Division No. 8, Subdivision L, 46 km away. Outbound, St. John's takes the most: 50 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Gander’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 55% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns ($63,700), Gander’s median is 25% above. No other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 6 has a higher median. 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).
4.2% of commuters from Gander go without a car
The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 6.7%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.2%, 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).
16% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 6 than in 2019
Roughly 9.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 11%. The highest month was February 2021: 5,240 people, 1.8 times the 2019 level.
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. 6. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walkability in Gander: graded B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #14 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 8,900 to 17,200, Gander ranks 222nd of 613 for jobs and income
| # | 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 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 65 | Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Newfoundland and Labrador | 9,167 | 76% | 7.9% | $114K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 220 | Signal Hill Alberta | 13,293 | 70% | 12% | $119K | B |
| 221 | Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy Quebec | 14,541 | 81% | 7.2% | $68K | B |
| 222 | Gander Newfoundland and Labrador | 12,707 | 67% | 14% | $80K | B |
| 223 | Minto Ontario | 10,029 | 81% | 5.5% | $83K | B |
| 224 | Pine Grove Ontario | 13,302 | 73% | 12% | $137K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 407 | Grand Falls-Windsor Newfoundland and Labrador | 14,510 | 62% | 16% | $66K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 613 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Gander, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
Around Gander: jobs, pay and the commute
The nearest places to Gander with figures are 36–46 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gander | 67% | 14% | $80K | 12.3 min | B | B− |
| Gambo 35.8 km | 55% | 26% | $59K | 24.8 min | D | B+ |
| Lewisporte 44.7 km | 59% | 19% | $59K | 18.4 min | C− | B |
| Division No. 8, Subdivision L 45.6 km | 43% | 30% | $51K | 38 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 Gander, 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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.
Questions about work in Gander
How many jobs are there in Gander?
The 2021 census found about 4,960 people with their usual workplace in Gander, or 1.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 515 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Gander?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 14% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the South Coast-Burin Peninsula and Notre Dame-Central-Bonavista Bay economic region at 10% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Gander?
The census puts Gander at $79,900 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Gander get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 0.2% take public transit, 3.8% walk and 0.2% cycle; 6.7% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Gander?
The average commute is 12.3 minutes; 87% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Gander work?
Most stay: 92% work in Gander. The rest go first to St. John's (50) and Witless Bay (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).