Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Vanier have jobs less often than in 82% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Vanier had more than $67,700 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Of everyone in Vanier working or looking for work in May 2021, 13% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. A typical one-way commute from Vanier lasts 25.5 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Vanier at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
67% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 55%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $67,700 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.
Jobs & income in Vanier: graded D
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #698 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
In Vanier, 67% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 42 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Waterloo census division, 4 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 65% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 63%. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Household income in Vanier
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 72% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Vanier’s median is 26% below. Of the 42 other places of 2,500 or more in the Waterloo census division, 38 have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
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: 17% of Vanier’s commuters
By transit: 13% of commuters, well above the 5.6% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. The car takes 81% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%.
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.
47% more people are on EI in the Waterloo census division than in 2019
April 2021 was the busiest month, with 28,950 people on EI, 3 times 2019’s average. That works out to around 4.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 2%.
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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Waterloo census division, with Vanier one part of it.
Vanier grades A+ for walkability
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #193 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 551 Canadian towns of 11,000 to 21,200, Vanier comes 465th on 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 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 463 | Saint-Henri Quebec | 17,309 | 74% | 11% | $65K | D |
| 464 | Chalmers Manitoba | 12,384 | 68% | 10% | $63K | D |
| 465 | Vanier Ontario | 15,686 | 67% | 13% | $68K | D |
| 466 | Briar Hill-Belgravia Ontario | 14,590 | 69% | 14% | $83K | D |
| 467 | Sheridan Ontario | 11,110 | 61% | 18% | $89K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 551 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Vanier, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Vanier: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanier | 67% | 13% | $68K | 25.5 min | D | A+ |
| Trillium Industrial Park 1.3 km | 69% | 11% | $87K | 23.9 min | C+ | C+ |
| Centreville Chicopee 1.8 km | 67% | 13% | $82K | 23.2 min | C+ | A |
| Stanley Park 1.9 km | 72% | 11% | $71K | 22.3 min | C+ | A− |
| Country Hills 2.3 km | 70% | 14% | $77K | 24.1 min | C | A |
| Alpine 2.4 km | 76% | 11% | $75K | 23.8 min | B− | A |
| Idlewood 2.8 km | 74% | 6.3% | $125K | 23.5 min | A− | B |
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 Vanier, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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.
- 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 Vanier’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Kitchener’s page.
Questions about work in Vanier
What is the unemployment rate in Vanier?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.1% for the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Vanier?
Vanier’s middle household had $67,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Vanier get to work?
81% of commuters go by car, 13% take public transit, 4.1% walk and 0.4% cycle. On census day 16% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How many jobs are there in Vanier?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Kitchener as one municipality.
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).