Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Pickering has higher household incomes than 96% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Pickering stood at 13% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Commutes from Pickering average 34.3 minutes, and 13% take an hour or more. 36% of its workers worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Pickering: the figures worth knowing
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 ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $118,700 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 34.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 13% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 36% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. 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 Pickering: graded C
Better than 34% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #487 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 Pickering, 71% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Durham census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 62% of the wider area’s adults in work. Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 57% were working. 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.
Before tax, the median household in Pickering had $118,700
One of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Durham census division has a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Pickering is 30% above it. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
How long the commute from Pickering takes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Only 19% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 30.9 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
Pickering gets to work without a car for 10% of commuters
By car, truck or van: 87% of commuters, much as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Transit takes 7.8% of commuters, above the 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
On a working day, Pickering loses more workers than it gains
24,305 residents of Pickering had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 22,180 people had theirs in Pickering, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 27% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
73% of Pickering’s residents in work leave it to work; Toronto takes the most
- Ajax3,465
- Toronto2,925
- Oshawa2,325
- Whitby2,305
- Bowmanville1,555
- Markham510
- Lindsay485
- Port Perry240
- Stouffville130
- Uxbridge125
- Toronto10,780
- Markham1,510
- Ajax1,460
- Whitby880
- Oshawa605
- Vaughan605
- Mississauga520
- Richmond Hill225
- Bowmanville215
- Stouffville200
Of those coming in, Ajax supplies the most: 3,465.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Pickering work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
44% more people are on EI in the Durham census division than in 2019
At its peak, in February 2021, 38,290 people were on EI, 3.2 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.6 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Durham 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).
Pickering earns A for walkability
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #408 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pickering is 32nd among 40 Canadian towns of 82,900 to 159,800
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 68% | 13% | $79K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Chatham-Kent Ontario | 112,716 | 69% | 11% | $72K | C+ |
| 31 | New Westminster British Columbia | 92,124 | 77% | 8.3% | $82K | C+ |
| 32 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 71% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 33 | Peterborough Ontario | 97,834 | 66% | 15% | $72K | C |
| 34 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 69% | 12% | $79K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Kawartha Lakes Ontario | 85,351 | 70% | 11% | $82K | C− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Pickering, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The places around Pickering, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering | 71% | 13% | $119K | 34.3 min | C | A |
| West Rouge 5.9 km | 69% | 14% | $114K | 37.3 min | C | A+ |
| Ajax 6.6 km | 69% | 13% | $119K | 34.8 min | C | A |
| Centennial Scarborough 7.3 km | 71% | 12% | $140K | 37.7 min | C | A+ |
| Highland Creek 7.9 km | 67% | 15% | $127K | 34.9 min | C | A+ |
| Morningside Heights 8.5 km | 65% | 15% | $121K | 36.3 min | C− | A |
| Malvern East 9.7 km | 63% | 16% | $88K | 36.9 min | D | 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 Pickering, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Pickering
What is the unemployment rate in Pickering?
The 2021 census found 13% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Toronto metro area, is 7.1% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Pickering?
The median household in Pickering had $118,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Pickering get to work?
87% of commuters drive, 7.8% take public transit, 1.9% walk and 0.3% cycle; 36% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Pickering?
The average commute is 34.3 minutes; 19% of trips take under 15 minutes and 13% an hour or more.
Where do people in Pickering work?
Only 27% work in Pickering itself; the rest go first to Toronto (10,780) and Markham (1,510).
How many jobs are there in Pickering?
The 2021 census found about 22,180 people with their usual workplace in Pickering, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 3,164 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).