Photo: Sylgja · CC BY-SA 4.0Arborg has 3 jobs for every resident in work
Commutes from Arborg average 17.9 minutes, and 4% take an hour or more. 5% of the labour force in Arborg was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. In 2020, a household at the middle of Arborg had $63,300 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Arborg: the figures worth knowing
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 60% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 83%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 5% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 2.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $63,300 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 17.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Arborg: graded B+
Better than 74% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, household income.
Graded against Canadian towns of 2,500 people or more; less unemployment and a shorter commute count in its favour.
How the grade works
Census 2021 measures, weighed equally against every Canadian town and neighbourhood of 2,500 people or more: the share of residents aged 15 to 64 in work, median household income (2020), the unemployment rate and the average commute. Each becomes a percentile; their average sets the letter.
How many in Arborg have a job: 83% of 15-to-64s
A larger share in work than in 85% of Canadian towns.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 63% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 60%. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: people in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64, and the census unemployment rate (15 and over); the 25-to-54 rate is Statistics Canada’s own (98-10-0485). The Labour Force Survey and business counts are context, not grade inputs.
What households in Arborg earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 81% of Canadian towns.
Arborg’s median is 25% below the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On a working day, 1,380 people work in Arborg, 2.7 times its working residents
Each resident commuting out of Arborg is matched by about 16 coming in. Of those who commute, 87% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Arborg
Timed exactly, the average is 14.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Manitoba’s towns averages 23.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 61% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: commuting duration in five bands; our average uses each band’s middle (75 minutes for an hour or more), so it runs about two minutes above Statistics Canada’s own.
934 people come into Arborg to work, most from Bifrost-Riverton and Armstrong
Of everyone working in Arborg, 71% come in from elsewhere; 565 make the 10 km trip from Bifrost-Riverton. Outbound, Gimli takes the most: 15 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Arborg gets to work without a car for 21% of commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 79% against 87%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. More people cycle to work here than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 3% against 0.4%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In Census Division No. 18, 17% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 7.4 are on EI. The count topped out in April 2021 at 1,620 people, 1.7 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: Census Division No. 18. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
The Walkability grade for Arborg: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in and around Arborg
The nearest places to Arborg with figures are 10–48 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arborg | 83% | 5% | $63K | 17.9 min | B+ | A+ |
| Bifrost-Riverton 10 km | 73% | 6.1% | $69K | 21.5 min | C+ | B |
| Gimli 34 km | 76% | 11% | $71K | 26.2 min | C | B |
| Fisher 34 km | 69% | 7.1% | $60K | 24.7 min | D | B |
| Armstrong 41.3 km | 73% | 8.4% | $62K | 29.4 min | D | C− |
| Peguis 1B 48.5 km | 40% | 18% | $60K | 16.2 min | C− | D |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Arborg, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Arborg
How many jobs are there in Arborg?
About 1,315 people had their usual place of work in Arborg at the 2021 census, 3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 161 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Arborg?
Two figures answer it: 5% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.9% for the Interlake economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Arborg?
The median household in Arborg had $63,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Arborg get to work?
79% of commuters go by car, 18% walk and 3% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Arborg?
On average 17.9 minutes; 61% take under 15 minutes and 4% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Arborg work?
Most stay: 87% work in Arborg. The rest go first to Gimli (15) and Bifrost-Riverton (15).
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · Statistics Canada, tables 98-10-0458 and 98-10-0459 (commuting) · Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0323 (EI beneficiaries) · Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (14-10-0459, 14-10-0462) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts (33-10-1176) · grades: TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).