iN NUMBERS: Kelowna has highest unemployment rate in Canada; Kamloops not far behind

Kelowna has the highest unemployment rate of any Canadian city, but when 2025 began it was sitting comfortably below the national average.

The Thompson-Okanagan region, especially Kelowna and Kamloops, has seen unemployment rates roughly double over the course of the year, according to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. 

Here are the numbers: 

• 11: Per cent was Kelowna unemployment rate in November. 
• 4.9: Per cent was Kelowna’s unemployment rate in January.
• 8.8: Per cent was Kamloops’ unemployment rate in November. 
• 4.8: Per cent was Kamloops’ unemployment rate in January. 
• 8.1: Per cent was the unemployment rate in the Thompson-Okanagan region in November.
• 4.3: Per cent was the unemployment rate in the Thompson-Okanagan region in November 2024. 
• 6.5: Per cent was BC’s unemployment rate in November.
• 6.8: Per cent was the national unemployment rate in November.
• 37: Dollars an hour was the average wage in Canada in November. That’s up by $1.27 from last year. 

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