Employment rate

Statistics Canada's standard error of the year-over-year change is 2.1 points, so the 95% margin is about 4.1 points; the -2.0-point change is smaller than that.

A higher share means more people have work. 61.4% in the three months to October 2026 against 63.4% a year earlier (-2.0 points; 95% survey margin about 4.1 points).

Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series. The rule.

Why it matters. It shows how many people are working, including those the unemployment rate leaves out because they are not looking for work.

• This comes from the Labour Force Survey, a sample survey. The standard error of the year-over-year change is 2.1 points, as Statistics Canada publishes it, so changes smaller than about 4.1 points may be sampling noise.
• The rate for everyone 15 and over falls as the population ages, because more people are retired. The 25 to 54 line, from the yearly table 14-10-0461-01, is less affected by that.
• The area is the Victoria census metropolitan area, which is larger than the City of Victoria.
• The B.C. and Canada lines are the same measure from the same Statistics Canada table (yearly averages from table 14-10-0327-01 on the longer views). They are comparisons, not goals: no government has set an employment-rate target for Greater Victoria. Places with an older population tend to have a lower rate for everyone 15 and over.

Area: Greater Victoria (CMA)

Statistics Canada’s Victoria metropolitan area: 13 municipalities plus nearby electoral-area and reserve lands.

Included

• Victoria
• Saanich
• Oak Bay
• Esquimalt
• View Royal
• Langford
• Colwood
• Highlands
• Metchosin
• Sooke
• Central Saanich
• North Saanich
• Sidney
• Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 1 (for example East Sooke, Jordan River and Shirley)
• First Nations reserves: Cole Bay 3, Union Bay 4, East Saanich 2, South Saanich 1, Becher Bay 1, Esquimalt, New Songhees 1A and T'Sou-ke

Not included

• Salt Spring Island
• Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna islands)
• Port Renfrew area (Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 2)

Official definition

• Statistics Canada: Victoria census metropolitan area (CMA 935), 2021 definition

How the agency describes it: Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria).

This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own file.

Published under an open licence: anyone may reuse it with credit. About licences.

Published by

Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, tables 14-10-0459-01 (monthly) and 14-10-0461-01 (yearly)

Licence

Open Government Licence - Canada

Updated by agency

Monthly; latest release Nov 6, 2026

Retrieved

Nov 12, 2026, 1:26 PM B.C. time

Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0459-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0327-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.