Statistics Canada has released more information from the 2021 Canada Census. This article is part of a series on the Census. Unless otherwise indicated, all data is from the Census.

Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

Slave Lake had the lowest percentage of low income people among the seven communities in the Slave Lake and Wabasca area with income data. Bigstone (Wabasca 166A) had the highest median (average) income for individuals.

Working population

The 2021 Census does not have income information for all communities in the Slave Lake area. This is because of small populations. Also, this article does not break M.D. #124 and M.D. #17 into hamlets.

The 2021 Census uses income information from 2020. This is based on the working population, which is people 15 years old and older in a community. This article compares data for Slave Lake, M.D. #124 (Lesser Slave River), M.D. #17 (Opportunity), Swan River First Nation, Loon River First Nation, and two reserves on Bigstone Cree Nation (Wabasca 166A and 166D).

The smallest community in the area with income data in the Census is Canyon Creek with a working aged population of 245. Communities smaller than that do not have data.

The information for these areas is marked with an ‘x.’

Data in the census marked with an ‘x’ is “suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act,” says the 2021 Canada Census.

Hamlets are included within the M.D. data, so are not broken down in the article. Hamlets with information, but not included in the article are M.D. #124 (Canyon Creek and Widewater) and M.D. #17 (Trout Lake, Peerless Lake, Red Earth Creek, Wabasca-Desmarais, and Calling Lake).

Low income

Among the seven communities discussed in this article, the four First Nations had the highest percentage of low income people.

Bigstone (Wabasca 166D) had the highest percentage of low income people (31.4 per cent). Swan River FN was next with 26 per cent. Followed by Bigstone (Wabasca 166A) with 23.2 per cent. In the middle, Loon River FN had 18.4 per cent.

M.D. #17 was next with 16 per cent. M.D. #124 was second lowest with 8.9 per cent. Slave Lake had the lowest with 7.2 per cent.

The graph ‘Slave Lake, and Wabasca and area percentage of low income (2020)’ is on this article on www.lakesideleader.com. This also includes the breakdown by age.

Median income

Of the seven communities with income data, Bigstone (Wabasca 166A) had the highest median (middle number within all income) income for individuals, with $53,200 total ($52,400 after tax). This and other median income information are on the graph ‘Slave Lake, Wabasca, and area median income of individuals (2020)’.

However, there was a wide range in median income between the highest and the lowest. Swan River was the lowest with $27,800 total ($27,600 after tax). This was almost half of Wabasca 166A, being $25,400 less total ($24,800 less after tax).

In the middle, the next highest median income was Slave Lake, which had $50,800 total ($46,000 after tax). Followed by, M.D. #124 $45,600 ($41,200 after tax). M.D. #17 had $40,800 ($38,400 after tax).

The third lowest was Wabasca 166D $38,400 before and after tax.

Loon River $36,400 ($35,200 after tax) was the second lowest.

The lowest was Swan River FN, which was mentioned earlier.

The median employment income for Swan River FN ($31,400) and Bigstone Wabasca 166D ($40,400) was higher than median total income (SRFN $27,800 and 166D $38,400). For the five other communities, median employment income was lower.

On the right of the ‘median’ graph there are three columns of data about government transfers, EI, and COVID emergency funds. EI averages were tightly packed, with a range from $5,720 (Slave Lake) to $8,000 (Swan River).

Government transfers and COVID funds ranged more.

Employment income

In most communities in the Slave Lake and Wabasca area, more people had employment income than did not. The exceptions were Swan River First Nation and Bigstone (Wabasca 166D).

Slave Lake had a working aged (15+) population of 5,055 people. Of these, 4,095 had employment income and 960 did not.

M.D. #17’s working population was 2,405, with 1,565 having employment income and 835 none.

M.D. #124 had 2,375 working aged people, with 1,710 having employment income and 665 none.

The working age populations of the First Nations were quite a bit lower.

These were SRFN 265 people, of whom 115 had employment income and 145 did not. LRFN had 310 people with 210 with employment income and 95 without.

Bigstone Wabasca 166A had 380 people, with 245 with employment income and 130 without. Bigstone Wabasca 166D had 495 people, with 225 with employment income and 275 without.

The median income graph includes a column on employment income. This shows that the median yearly income for Slave Lake was $47,200.

However, not everyone made that much money, and other people made much more.

Slave Lake, M.D. #124, and M.D. #17 have much larger populations than the four First Nations with income data. Therefore when comparing the number of people in income brackets, these are divided into two graphs.

Slave Lake also had 1,690 more working aged people than M.D. #17 (1,720 more than M.D. #124), so each Slave Lake bar is noticeably higher.

In Slave Lake and the two M.D.s, there were people in all income brackets. Also, there wasn’t a huge variation between the largest category and the smallest categories.

In Slave Lake, the largest category was $10,000 to $19,999 (425 people) and the smallest was $80,000 to $89,999 (215 people).

The lowest income category, under $5,000 (including loss) was the largest in both M.D. #124 (275 people) and M.D. #17 (205).

The smallest for M.D. #124 was $90,000 to $99,999 (70 people).

The smallest for M.D. #17 was $125,000 and over (50 people).

In each First Nation, one or more employment income bracket had zero people. However, the populations are quite small, so all categories had a low number of people.

The largest categories were Loon River FN (50 people), Bigstone Wabasca 166D (45 people), Bigstone Wabasca 166A (40 people), and Swan River FN (15 people).

Loon River FN had two income brackets with zero people ($50,000 and $80,000). Swan River FN had four ($50,000, $80,00, $90,00, and $125,000+). Bigstone Wabasca 166A had one ($80,000). In Wabasca 166D, two income brackets had zero ($70,000 and $100,000).

Editor’s note: This article is an overview and not a thorough statistical analysis of the data.