Photo: Words in the Wind · CC BY-SA 4.0Bifrost-Riverton has 0.4 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
In May 2021, unemployment in Bifrost-Riverton reached 6.1%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Bifrost-Riverton take well under an hour: the average is 21.5 minutes, and 5.9% take 60 minutes or longer. Half the households in Bifrost-Riverton had more than $68,900 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Bifrost-Riverton at work: what stands out
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 6.1% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 2.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $68,900 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 21.5 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.9% last an hour or longer. 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.
Bifrost-Riverton earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 41% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #132 of 185 in Manitoba.
Its strongest measure is trip times; 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.
Bifrost-Riverton at work: 73% of people aged 15 to 64
A smaller share in work than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 61%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 57%: many residents are past working age. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 61% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Household income in Bifrost-Riverton
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Manitoba’s towns is $83,900, and Bifrost-Riverton is 18% below it. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Time on the road to work from Bifrost-Riverton
Within a quarter-hour: 46% of commuters, much as in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 19 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Manitoba’s towns, the average commute is 23.6 minutes.
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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
The daily tide in Bifrost-Riverton runs outward
920 residents of Bifrost-Riverton had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 340 people had theirs in Bifrost-Riverton, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 5 to 1. 23% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
77% of Bifrost-Riverton’s residents in work leave it to work; Arborg takes the most
Of those coming in, Winnipeg supplies the most: 40.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Bifrost-Riverton work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Without a car, 10% of Bifrost-Riverton’s commuters get to work
90% drive to work, more than the 87% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Home was the workplace for 17%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. More people walk to work here than in the middle of Manitoba’s towns: 9.2% against 3.8%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In Census Division No. 18, 17% more people receive EI than in 2019
At its peak, in April 2021, 1,620 people were on EI, 1.7 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 7.4 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 4%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: 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 of Bifrost-Riverton: B
Better than 65% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #130 of 185 in Manitoba.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Bifrost-Riverton places 446th of 757 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | South River Heights Manitoba | 2,632 | 84% | 5.3% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 444 | Kensington Alberta | 3,697 | 64% | 14% | $83K | C+ |
| 445 | Berthierville Quebec | 4,591 | 80% | 4.4% | $50K | C+ |
| 446 | Bifrost-Riverton Manitoba | 3,518 | 73% | 6.1% | $69K | C+ |
| 447 | Gilkson Ontario | 2,963 | 71% | 13% | $96K | C+ |
| 448 | Talbot-Grey Manitoba | 2,756 | 76% | 10% | $68K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 757 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Bifrost-Riverton, and others among Manitoba’s towns.
Work in the places around Bifrost-Riverton
Distances here run 10–43 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Bifrost-Riverton.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bifrost-Riverton | 73% | 6.1% | $69K | 21.5 min | C+ | B |
| Arborg 10 km | 83% | 5% | $63K | 17.9 min | B+ | A+ |
| Fisher 30.6 km | 69% | 7.1% | $60K | 24.7 min | D | B |
| Peguis 1B 40.8 km | 40% | 18% | $60K | 16.2 min | C− | D |
| Gimli 42.6 km | 76% | 11% | $71K | 26.2 min | C | B |
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 Bifrost-Riverton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Bifrost-Riverton
Where do people in Bifrost-Riverton work?
23% work in Bifrost-Riverton itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Arborg (565), then Gimli (50).
How many jobs are there in Bifrost-Riverton?
About 340 people had their usual place of work in Bifrost-Riverton at the 2021 census, 0.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 60 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Bifrost-Riverton?
The census put unemployment at 6.1% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Interlake economic region at 2.9%.
What is the average household income in Bifrost-Riverton?
At $68,900 before tax in 2020, the median household in Bifrost-Riverton compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Bifrost-Riverton get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 0.8% take public transit and 9.2% walk. On census day 17% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Bifrost-Riverton?
On average 21.5 minutes; 46% take under 15 minutes and 5.9% take an hour or longer.
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).