Living in Quesnel

In Quesnel, unemployment is 10.6% (2021).

The population of Quesnel totalled 10,198 at the end of 2022. At the end of 2021, unemployment in Quesnel reached 10.59%. Quesnel's foreign population totalled 800 at the end of 2021.

Last checked 2026-10-0222 sources

Population10,198people31 Dec 2022Official source · Statistics Canada

Median gross salary3,840EUR/month31 Dec 2020Official source · Statistics Canada

Average rent776.6EUR/month31 Dec 2025Metro-area figureOfficial source · CMHC Rental Market Survey: average rents for areas with population 10,000 and over, table 34-10-0133-01

Unemployment rate10.59%country median 8.4% — 26% aboveOfficial source · Statistics Canada

Recorded crime25,963incidents per 100,000country median 4,873 — 433% aboveOfficial source · Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Table 351001-0084-01)

PM2.5, annual mean8.5µg/m³31 Dec 2024Nearest stationOfficial source · Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), NAPS

Higher unemployment than 71% of Canadian cities that publish it, more recorded crime than any other Canadian city that publishes it and dirtier air than 89% of Canadian cities that publish it.

Which Canada-wide rules apply when you move to Quesnel?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in CanadaNational rates and thresholds that apply in Quesnel.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

In Quesnel, 15.2% of renter households spent at least 30% of income on housing at the end of 2021.

What recurs every month3 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€50

Transport pass€28

Mobile plan, 10 GB€24

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	49.79 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Bell Fibe 500 home internet²Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	24.27 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Public Mobile 50GB plan⁹Official · national market
Monthly transport pass	28.02 EUR/month	13 Sept 2026	BC Transit / City of Quesnel¹Official
Households spending over 30% of income on rent	15.2 %	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹³Official
Dwellings	4,766 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹¹Official
Main residence dwellings	4,508 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁴Official
Average monthly rent (two-bedroom)	784.8 EUR/month	31 Oct 2023	CMHC Urban Rental Market Survey — Average Rents in Urban Centres (CSD table), October 2023⁴Official
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	776.6 EUR/month	31 Dec 2025	CMHC Rental Market Survey: average rents for areas with population 10,000 and over, table 34-10-0133-01³Official · metropolitan-area figure

Is Quesnel a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker47%strong on work, weak on safety · range 38–56%

Skilled employee53%strong on work, weak on education · range 44–62%

Student33%strong on cost, weak on education · range 23–43%

Family38%strong on housing, weak on education · range 29–47%

Retirement49%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 38–60%

Work and income

What is the typical salary in Quesnel?

The median gross salary is about 3,840 EUR/month (2020). The regional series (home-region basis, 2020) is a separate labelled row in the table.

City-scope median, gross, before tax and social contributions.

Median gross salary: 3,840 EUR/month · Statistics Canada¹⁵
Median gross salary (regional): 2,462 EUR/month · 2026-09-17 · www150.statcan.gc.ca²²

What is the unemployment rate in Quesnel?

The unemployment rate is about 10.6 % (2021).

Unemployment rate: 10.59 % · Statistics Canada¹⁶

Unemployment across cities in CanadaUnemployment in Quesnel is 10.6%. Of 515 cities with data, 125 have unemployment of 6 to under 8%.

125

108

0–22–44–66–88–1010–1212–1414–1616–1818–2020–22

Quesnel 10.6%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Employment rate	48.7 %	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁴Official
Median gross salary	3,840 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	Statistics Canada¹⁵Official
Median gross salary (regional)	2,462 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	www150.statcan.gc.ca²²Official
Unemployment rate	10.59 %country median 8.4%	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁶Official

What does a salary buy in Quesnel?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€2,026of €2,904 take-home

Rent
Transport
Internet
Mobile
Left over

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	€2,904
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · CMHC Rental Market Survey: average rents for areas with population 10,000 and over, table 34-10-0133-01 · 2025-12-31	− €777
Public transport pass€28 · official · BC Transit / City of Quesnel · 2026-09-13	− €28
Utilities, 85 m²not published for this city	—
Internet€50 · official · Bell Fibe 500 home internet · 2026-09-30	− €50
Mobile plan€24 · official · Public Mobile 50GB plan · 2026-09-30	− €24
Left overbefore the bill this city does not publish	€2,026

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Quesnel Salary needed to live in Quesnel

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Quesnel. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Job Bank and public employment services — Public employment service

Government of Canada

Job SearchMigrant Support

Open official service

Open the Canada service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Quesnel. Sources checked through 12 Aug 2026.

Safety

How safe is Quesnel?

Police recorded about 25,963 incidents per 100,000 (2025). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Table 351001-0084-01)⁶

Recorded crime across major citiesQuesnel highlighted among comparable cities

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Winnipeg7,894

Edmonton7,108

Halifax6,020

Vancouver5,438

Calgary4,796

London4,743

Québec4,630

Ottawa4,298

Hamilton4,257

Toronto4,177

Gatineau3,756

Montreal3,674

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	25,963 incidents per 100,000country median 4,873	31 Dec 2025	Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Table 351001-0084-01)⁶Official

Mobility and administration

Quesnel's nearest airport was YQZ, 5 km away and offered 2 direct destinations.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport	2 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁷Official
Distance to the nearest major airport	5 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁸Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)	YQZ	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁸Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Quesnel. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

IRCC newcomer language-learning services finder — State Language Course

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

For newcomers to Canada.

English, FrenchFree

Open official information

Open the full Canada section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Quesnel.

Find courses near Quesnel

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Quesnel?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 8.5 µg/m³ (2024) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), NAPS⁵

Annual mean at the measuring site(s) serving the city; current-day readings differ.

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C

0°

-3°-11°

1°-9°

7°-5°

13°-1°

19°4°

22°8°

24°9°

24°8°

19°5°

11°0°

3°-4°

-2°-10°

JFMAMJJASOND

Night-time low to daytime high

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.58.5WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in CanadaAnnual PM2.5 in Quesnel is 8.5 µg/m³. Of 123 cities with data, 46 have annual PM2.5 of 3 to under 4 µg/m³.

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–1010–1113–1415–1616–1717–1820–2140–41

Quesnel 8.5

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	8.5 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), NAPS⁵Official · nearest-station reading
Average daytime high by month	Jan -2.8 · Feb 0.9 · Mar 6.9 · Apr 13.2 · May 19 · Jun 21.8 · Jul 24.4 · Aug 24.2 · Sep 18.6 · Oct 10.8 · Nov 2.8 · Dec -2.1 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI¹⁹Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by month	Jan -11 · Feb -9 · Mar -5.3 · Apr -1 · May 3.6 · Jun 7.5 · Jul 9.5 · Aug 8.5 · Sep 4.7 · Oct 0.2 · Nov -4.5 · Dec -9.6 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI²⁰Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by month	Jan -6.9 · Feb -4.1 · Mar 0.8 · Apr 6.1 · May 11.3 · Jun 14.7 · Jul 17 · Aug 16.4 · Sep 11.7 · Oct 5.5 · Nov -0.8 · Dec -5.8 °C	31 Dec 1991	World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI²¹Official · nearest-station reading

Similar climate. In Canada: Barrie ±2.5 °C. Elsewhere: Lahti (Finland) ±1.9 °C, Tampere (Finland) ±2.2 °C, Huddinge (Sweden) ±2.3 °C, Sonthofen (Germany) ±2.3 °C, Jyväskylä (Finland) ±2.4 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

An area of 35.4 km² comprised Quesnel at the end of 2021. The city had 4,510 households at the end of 2021. The population's median age was 45.6 years at the end of 2021.

How many people live in Quesnel?

The published population was 10,198 people in 2022. Source: Statistics Canada¹²

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport92.2%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Area	35.35 km²	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁴Official
City area	35.35 km²	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁷Official
Foreign-resident share	8.26 %	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁰Official
Foreign residents	800 people	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁰Official
Population density	279.8 people/km²	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁷Official
Population	10,198 people	31 Dec 2022	Statistics Canada¹²Official

Population over time22 published observations, 2001–2022

9,534

9,859

10,185

10,510

10,19820012005200920152022

Population fell 2.3% between 2001 and 2022, from 10,443 to 10,198.

Additional context

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Residents born abroad	8.3 %	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹³Official
Households	4,510 households	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁴Official
Labour force participation rate	54.4 %	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁴Official
Median age	45.6 years	31 Dec 2021	Statistics Canada¹⁸Official

Alternatives for people set on Quesnel

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Blainville as a Quesnel alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 3543 km, better on 4 of 6 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0.

Residents: 62,700 Blainville vs 10,198 Quesnel+515%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 2,099 Blainville vs 25,963 Quesnel−92%
Unemployment: 5.6% Blainville vs 10.6% Quesnel−47%
Foreign residents: 11.7% Blainville vs 8.3% Quesnel+42%
Median gross pay, region: €2,789 Blainville vs €2,462 Quesnel+13%
Median gross pay, city: €3,813 Blainville vs €3,840 Quesnelsame level

Full comparison More about Blainville

Alternative cities in Canada

Other cities in Canada to compare with Quesnel, nearest in population first.

All Canada cities

Shelburne10,212 residents Saint-Félicien10,272 residents Arnprior10,295 residents Hinton10,087 residents Morden10,370 residents Oromocto10,020 residents

How does Quesnel compare?

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Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Quesnel when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Put Quesnel's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

How many people live in Quesnel?

The published population was 10,198 people in 2022. Source: Statistics Canada.

Is the air quality good in Quesnel?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 8.5 µg/m³ (2024) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), NAPS.

How safe is Quesnel?

What is the typical salary in Quesnel?

The median gross salary is about 3,840 EUR/month (2020). The regional series (home-region basis, 2020) is a separate labelled row in the table. Source: Statistics Canada.

What is the unemployment rate in Quesnel?

The unemployment rate is about 10.6 % (2021). Source: Statistics Canada.

What is the typical salary around Quesnel?

The median gross salary is 2,462 EUR/month. Source: www150.statcan.gc.ca.

Is Quesnel a good place to live?

Quesnel may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Quesnel, Canada: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 7f322d604a07884fdf3a5e6b0f0c2545]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ca/quesnel/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_quesnel-canada-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_a4d98e8cffcb,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Quesnel, Canada: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {7f322d604a07884fdf3a5e6b0f0c2545},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ca/quesnel/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Quesnel, Canada: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ca/quesnel/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 7f322d604a07884fdf3a5e6b0f0c2545; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

BC Transit / City of Quesnel bctransit.com · checked 2026-09-15
Bell Fibe 500 home internet bell.ca · checked 2026-09-15
CMHC Rental Market Survey: average rents for areas with population 10,000 and over, table 34-10-0133-01 www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-09-23
CMHC Urban Rental Market Survey — Average Rents in Urban Centres (CSD table), October 2023 CMHC Urban Rental Market Survey · assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca · checked 2026-09-18
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), NAPS data-donnees.az.ec.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-05
Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Table 351001-0084-01) www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-09-28
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
Public Mobile 50GB plan publicmobile.ca · checked 2026-09-15
Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-03

Show 12 more sources

Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-07
Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-03
Statistics Canada www12.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-07
Statistics Canada api.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-07
Statistics Canada www12.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-09-13
Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-03
Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-03
Statistics Canada www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-07
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
www150.statcan.gc.ca www150.statcan.gc.ca · checked 2026-08-27

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