More than half of Richmond’s commuters work in the city they live.
According to data conducted as part of the National Household Survey, 40,705 out of Richmond’s 73,770 commuters don’t leave the city’s boundaries to get to work.
The statistics fly in the face of the stereotype that the majority of commuters head to Downtown Vancouver to earn a crust.
In fact, just 20,215 Richmondites, or 27.4 per cent, head over the north arm of the Fraser River every day to get to their place of work.
The figures come as little surprise to the city’s mayor, Malcolm Brodie, who cited Richmond’s high ratio of jobs per worker in the region.
“There is a significant amount of jobs in Richmond, so it makes sense that a great proportion of people are living and working in Richmond,” said Brodie.
“And as we continue to look into the future, we’re working towards attracting and retaining major industrial and commercial employers to the city.”
Citing more major employers heading into Richmond in the next few years — including Canada Post, YVR’s luxury outlet mall and Walmart — Brodie expects that ratio to hold firm, despite the 40,000 or so forecasted population spike by 2040.
“If we can provide the resources and amenities for people to live in Richmond, then it makes sense that employers are going to want to be near that labour source,” added Brodie.
The data indicates that the majority of commuters across the Metro Vancouver region work in the same city they live, or commute to another suburb, rather than Vancouver.
Indeed, of the roughly 650,000 employed residents of Metro Vancouver’s suburbs, only one-fifth travel into Vancouver for work, although rates are higher on the North Shore and the nearby suburbs of Richmond and Burnaby.
Around 4,400 Richmondites commute to Burnaby to work, accounting for 6.1 per cent of commuters, while 2,345 (3.2 per cent) travel south to Delta, 2,025 (2.7 per cent) to Surrey, 675 (0.9 per cent) to New Westminster, 400 (0.5 per cent) to Langley City and Township and 375 (0.1 per cent) to White Rock.
Such diffuse commuting patterns are in stark contrast to those found in other major Canadian cities, and make providing transit services more challenging.
In comparison, 48 per cent of those in Markham, ON. work in Toronto, and 59 per cent of those in Airdrie, AB. work in Calgary.
—With a file from the Vancouver Sun
