Photo: A Disappearing Act · CC BY-SA 4.0Mount Royale has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 63% of Canadian towns
Mount Royale had an unemployment rate of 11% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. A typical one-way commute from Mount Royale lasts 21.3 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. The median household in Mount Royale had $73,100 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Mount Royale
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 72% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 57% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. 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 & income in Mount Royale: graded B−
Better than 45% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #22 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
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.
17% of commuters from Mount Royale go without a car
Home was the workplace for 28%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. More people take transit to work here than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 13% against 0.7%. 81% drive to work, fewer than the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How many in Mount Royale have a job: 72% of 15-to-64s
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 15 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 65% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 64% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 57% of residents 15 and over were in work. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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.
Earnings at home in Mount Royale: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 59% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Mount Royale’s median is 6% above. Of the 35 other places of 2,500 or more in the Halifax census division, 27 have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
EI claims in the Halifax census division run 18% above their 2019 level
That is about 3.7 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%. The count topped out in May 2021 at 26,240 people, 2.9 times the 2019 average.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Halifax census division as a whole, not for Mount Royale alone.
Getting around Mount Royale on foot earns A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #19 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Mount Royale is 369th of 659 Canadian towns of 6,500 to 12,600 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Fall River Nova Scotia | 9,214 | 78% | 8.1% | $135K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | Portland Estates Nova Scotia | 10,164 | 77% | 8.9% | $87K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A Nova Scotia | 9,682 | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 367 | Playter Estates-Danforth Ontario | 7,712 | 73% | 14% | $91K | B− |
| 368 | La Pêche Quebec | 9,379 | 80% | 6.2% | $88K | B− |
| 369 | Mount Royale Nova Scotia | 9,340 | 72% | 11% | $73K | B− |
| 370 | Buckingham Heights British Columbia | 8,794 | 71% | 7.9% | $118K | B− |
| 371 | Wainfleet Ontario | 7,329 | 74% | 9.2% | $96K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 659 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Mount Royale, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
The work picture around Mount Royale
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Royale | 72% | 11% | $73K | 21.3 min | B− | A− |
| Fairview 1.5 km | 69% | 13% | $63K | 21 min | C− | A+ |
| Clayton Park West 2.9 km | 73% | 12% | $74K | 23.5 min | C+ | A+ |
| Westmount 3 km | 73% | 13% | $77K | 20.5 min | B | A+ |
| Windsor Park 3.4 km | 70% | 13% | $70K | 20.1 min | C+ | A+ |
| North End 4.7 km | 70% | 14% | $67K | 21.3 min | C | A+ |
| South End 5.3 km | 66% | 14% | $77K | 23.3 min | C | 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 Mount Royale, 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Mount Royale’s figures add those up. Halifax’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Mount Royale
How do people in Mount Royale get to work?
81% of commuters drive, 13% take public transit and 3.7% walk; 28% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Mount Royale?
Jobs and commuting flows exist only for Halifax as a whole, and its page carries them.
What is the unemployment rate in Mount Royale?
The 2021 census found 11% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Halifax metro area, is 5.4% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Mount Royale?
At $73,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Mount Royale compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).