Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Gilbert trails that of 94% of Canadian towns
On average, people in Gilbert spend 26.3 minutes getting to work, next to 26 for the middle of Canadian towns. In 2020, a household at the middle of Gilbert had $88,100 before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. The 2021 census put unemployment in Gilbert at 17%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What stands out about work in Gilbert
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 60% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 47%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 17% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
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, Gilbert grades C
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #597 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
In Gilbert, 60% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hamilton census division, 9 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 61% in October 2026. Working or looking, 57% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 47% were working. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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 Gilbert’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 72% of Canadian towns.
53 of the 105 other places of 2,500+ in the Hamilton census division have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Gilbert is 4% 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 6.4% of Gilbert’s commuters
By car, truck or van: 89% of commuters, against 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 4.8%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Hamilton census division run 38% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 30,560, the most in the series and 3.3 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.1 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. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Hamilton census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Everyday places on foot in Gilbert: A
Better than 85% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #458 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
493rd of 666: where Gilbert ranks among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 491 | Rosslyn Alberta | 3,242 | 68% | 9.7% | $80K | C |
| 492 | Dewdney Place Saskatchewan | 3,021 | 57% | 16% | $65K | C |
| 493 | Gilbert Ontario | 3,181 | 60% | 17% | $88K | C |
| 494 | Beaumaris Alberta | 4,125 | 64% | 16% | $76K | C |
| 495 | O'Leary Prince Edward Island | 2,878 | 70% | 18% | $69K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 666 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Gilbert, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The work picture around Gilbert
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert | 60% | 17% | $88K | 26.3 min | C | A |
| Fessenden 0.9 km | 70% | 12% | $88K | 26.3 min | C+ | A |
| Westcliffe East 1 km | 75% | 12% | $109K | 24.8 min | B+ | A− |
| Gilkson 1 km | 71% | 13% | $96K | 27.9 min | C+ | A− |
| Rolston 1.1 km | 61% | 15% | $78K | 26.8 min | C− | A |
| Buchanan 1.2 km | 68% | 10% | $107K | 26.2 min | B− | A |
| Gurnett 1.3 km | 69% | 12% | $108K | 28.5 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 Gilbert, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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. Everything here sums the dissemination areas inside Gilbert’s lines, since the census has no neighbourhood profile; where people commute is on Hamilton’s page.
Questions about work in Gilbert
How many jobs are there in Gilbert?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Hamilton has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Gilbert?
At the 2021 census 17% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Hamilton metro area, gives 7.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Gilbert?
At $88,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Gilbert compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Gilbert get to work?
Driving takes 89% of commuters to work, 4.8% take public transit and 1.6% walk, and on census day 23% of those in work were at home.
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).