Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 4.0Work and commuting in Westmount
Home was the workplace for 33% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Census day 2021 found 13% of Westmount’s labour force without a job, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. At 20.5 minutes on average, the trip to work from Westmount compares with 26 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Westmount
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20.5 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. Getting to work ↓
Many work from home
33% of workers worked at home on census day, against 21% 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 Westmount: graded B
Better than 57% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #18 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.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 25% of Westmount’s commuters
By transit: 11% of commuters, well above the 0.7% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. The car takes 71% of commuters here, under 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 residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
How many in Westmount have a job: 73% of 15-to-64s
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Halifax census division, 19 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 58% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 65% in October 2026. Working or looking, 66% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Half the households in Westmount had more than $76,700 in 2020
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 51% of Canadian towns.
Of the 35 other places of 2,500 or more in the Halifax census division, 23 have a higher median. The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns is $69,150, and Westmount is 11% above it. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
18% more people are on EI in the Halifax census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.7 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 3%. The highest month was May 2021: 26,240 people, 2.9 times the 2019 level.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Halifax census division, Westmount included.
The walkability of Westmount: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #3 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 16,200 to 31,300, Westmount ranks 124th of 378 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Cole Harbour Nova Scotia | 21,627 | 77% | 9.9% | $103K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Bedford Nova Scotia | 28,848 | 74% | 11% | $98K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 92 | Woodlawn Nova Scotia | 20,925 | 70% | 11% | $95K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 122 | Bedford Park-Nortown Ontario | 22,376 | 73% | 10% | $146K | B |
| 123 | Vimont Quebec | 31,166 | 78% | 7.1% | $91K | B |
| 124 | Westmount Nova Scotia | 23,207 | 73% | 13% | $77K | B |
| 125 | Des Explorateurs Quebec | 31,128 | 77% | 8.6% | $97K | B |
| 126 | Stonebridge - Half Moon Bay Ontario | 28,714 | 74% | 9.1% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 378 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Westmount, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
Westmount and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westmount | 73% | 13% | $77K | 20.5 min | B | A+ |
| South End 2.4 km | 66% | 14% | $77K | 23.3 min | C | A |
| Fairview 2.6 km | 69% | 13% | $63K | 21 min | C− | A+ |
| Windsor Park 2.7 km | 70% | 13% | $70K | 20.1 min | C+ | A+ |
| North End 2.8 km | 70% | 14% | $67K | 21.3 min | C | A+ |
| Mount Royale 3 km | 72% | 11% | $73K | 21.3 min | B− | A− |
| Schmidtville 3.3 km | 67% | 17% | $56K | 21.2 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 Westmount, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Westmount’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Halifax’s page.
Questions about work in Westmount
How do people in Westmount get to work?
Driving takes 71% of commuters to work, 11% take public transit, 11% walk and 2.8% cycle, and on census day 33% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Westmount?
Jobs are counted by municipality, not neighbourhood: the page for Halifax has the jobs based there and where its commuters go.
What is the unemployment rate in Westmount?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 13% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Halifax metro area at 5.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Westmount?
Before tax, half the households in Westmount had more than $76,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).