Photo: Fabian Roudra Baroi · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in Downsview are less likely to have a job than in 82% of Canadian towns
A typical one-way commute from Downsview lasts 35.5 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit is the way to work for 28% of commuters here. In 2020, a household at the middle of Downsview had $83,000 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Downsview at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 55% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 67%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 7.1% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 14%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 35.5 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 Downsview: graded D
Better than 12% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #722 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.
Work for 67% of 15-to-64s in Downsview
Of the 157 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Toronto census division, 72 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. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 65% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Without a car, 31% of Downsview’s commuters get to work
Working at home: 21%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. 66% drive to work, fewer than the 88% in the middle of Ontario’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.
What households in Downsview earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 62% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Downsview is 9% below it. Of the 157 other places of 2,500 or more in the Toronto census division, 95 have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
In the Toronto census division, 43% more people receive EI than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 165,520 people on EI, 4 times 2019’s average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.5 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Toronto 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).
Walking in Downsview earns A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #106 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Downsview is 437th of 514 Canadian towns of 12,600 to 24,400
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 3 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| 7 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 435 | Englemount-Lawrence Ontario | 21,455 | 66% | 13% | $81K | D |
| 436 | Newtonbrook East Ontario | 15,996 | 67% | 13% | $84K | D |
| 437 | Downsview Ontario | 18,055 | 67% | 14% | $83K | D |
| 438 | Malvern West Ontario | 17,354 | 61% | 18% | $89K | D |
| 439 | Willowdale West Ontario | 17,210 | 70% | 12% | $77K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 514 | Oakridge Ontario | 13,913 | 51% | 21% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Downsview, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs near Downsview: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downsview | 67% | 14% | $83K | 35.5 min | D | A+ |
| Maple Leaf 1.7 km | 65% | 15% | $86K | 32.3 min | D | A+ |
| Oakdale-Beverley Heights 2.4 km | 62% | 17% | $75K | 36.6 min | D− | A+ |
| Rustic 2.7 km | 56% | 18% | $66K | 36.4 min | D− | A+ |
| Yorkdale-Glen Park 2.9 km | 64% | 16% | $81K | 32.9 min | D | A+ |
| York University Heights 3.1 km | 60% | 17% | $77K | 37 min | D | A+ |
| Glenfield-Jane Heights 3.1 km | 55% | 19% | $71K | 37.4 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 Downsview, 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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. 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Downsview’s figures add those up. Toronto’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Downsview
What is the average household income in Downsview?
Before tax, half the households in Downsview had more than $83,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Downsview get to work?
66% of commuters go by car, 28% take public transit and 2.8% walk. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How many jobs are there in Downsview?
Jobs are counted by municipality, not neighbourhood: the page for Toronto has the jobs based there and where its commuters go.
What is the unemployment rate in Downsview?
At the 2021 census 14% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Toronto metro area, gives 7.1% in October 2026.
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).