Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More of Swift Current’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 78% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 7.3% of Swift Current’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Swift Current takes 13.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 3%. Before tax, the typical household in Swift Current brought in $78,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Work in Swift Current: the figures worth knowing
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 62% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 81%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 7.3% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.2%. Unemployment ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 6,770 jobs based in Swift Current and 6,290 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 13.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3% last an hour or longer. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Swift Current: A
Better than 95% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #31 of 104 in Saskatchewan.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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 Swift Current, 81% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 59% of the wider area’s adults in work. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 67% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 62%. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
A working day adds 7% to the people at work in Swift Current
6,290 residents of Swift Current had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 6,770 people had theirs in Swift Current, wherever they lived.
85% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Swift Current
In the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns, the average commute is 18.1 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 80% of commuters, against 67% in the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 12.2 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.
1,455 people come into Swift Current to work, most from Swift Current No. 137 and Herbert
- Swift Current No. 137525
- Herbert105
- Excelsior No. 16680
- Waldeck75
- Saskatchewan Landing No. 16770
- Coulee No. 13665
- Gull Lake50
- Lac Pelletier No. 10740
- Lawtonia No. 13535
- Lacadena No. 22830
- Swift Current No. 137465
- Gull Lake100
- Lumsden35
- Herbert25
- Corman Park No. 34425
- Kindersley25
- Maple Creek20
- Stewart Valley20
- Dundurn No. 31420
- Dundurn15
21% of the people who work in Swift Current live outside it, 525 of them in Swift Current No. 137, 9 km away. Outbound, Swift Current No. 137 takes the most: 465 people.
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 Swift Current work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Swift Current: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns ($86,800), Swift Current’s median is 9% below. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 4.4% of Swift Current’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 8.7%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters.
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.
7% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 8 than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,130 people on EI, 2.1 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.3 receive EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 2%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers Census Division No. 8. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
How walkable Swift Current is: B
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #72 of 104 in Saskatchewan.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Swift Current is 24th of 510 Canadian towns of 12,700 to 24,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Stonebridge Saskatchewan | 15,230 | 80% | 7% | $101K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Harbour Landing Saskatchewan | 14,402 | 79% | 7.8% | $99K | A+ |
| 17 | Warman Saskatchewan | 14,245 | 83% | 5.1% | $120K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Stratford Prince Edward Island | 13,152 | 79% | 8% | $91K | A+ |
| 23 | Prince Rupert British Columbia | 12,903 | 75% | 9.5% | $96K | A+ |
| 24 | Swift Current Saskatchewan | 18,154 | 81% | 7.3% | $79K | A |
| 25 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| 26 | Sainte-Marie Quebec | 13,873 | 86% | 4.9% | $78K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 510 | Oakridge Ontario | 13,913 | 51% | 21% | $60K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Swift Current, and others among Saskatchewan’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Swift Current, compared
Swift Current has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 9–117 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swift Current | 81% | 7.3% | $79K | 13.2 min | A | B |
| Swift Current No. 137 8.6 km | 86% | 2.6% | $101K | 20.9 min | A+ | D |
| Shaunavon 83.7 km | 83% | 3.2% | $71K | 15.9 min | A | A |
| Gravelbourg 99.7 km | 90% | 3.9% | $76K | 15.3 min | A+ | A |
| Eston 117.2 km | 85% | 4.3% | $73K | 13.8 min | A+ | 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 Swift Current, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
Questions about work in Swift Current
What is the unemployment rate in Swift Current?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 7.3% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Swift Current-Moose Jaw economic region at 6.2% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Swift Current?
Swift Current’s middle household had $78,700 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Swift Current get to work?
95% of commuters go by car, 0.5% take public transit, 3.6% walk and 0.3% cycle. On census day 8.7% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Swift Current?
On average 13.2 minutes; 80% take under 15 minutes and 3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Swift Current work?
Most stay: 85% work in Swift Current. The rest go first to Swift Current No. 137 (465) and Gull Lake (100).
How many jobs are there in Swift Current?
About 6,770 people had their usual place of work in Swift Current at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 963 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).