Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHousehold incomes in Fisher trail those of 88% of Canadian towns
From Fisher, the drive or ride to work averages 24.7 minutes, with 6.5% going an hour or longer. The 2021 census found 69% of working-age people in Fisher employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. When the 2021 census was taken, 7.1% of people in Fisher who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What sets Fisher apart on jobs and income
Less unemployment than most towns
7.1% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 2.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $60,000 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
455 people work in Fisher and 430 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Fisher grades D
Better than 13% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Who in Fisher has a job
A smaller share in work than in 76% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 62%. 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 Fisher: $60,000 at the median
Fisher’s median is 28% below the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900). Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Fisher keeps its workforce on a working day
The job is inside the municipality for 68% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
163 people come into Fisher to work, most from Winnipeg and Bifrost-Riverton
Of everyone working in Fisher, 36% come in from elsewhere; 40 make the 138 km trip from Winnipeg. Outbound, Arborg takes the most: 70 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 7.4% of Fisher’s commuters get to work
By car, truck or van: 89% of commuters, against 87% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Home was the workplace for 24%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Time on the road to work from Fisher
Timed exactly, the average is 22.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Manitoba’s towns, the average commute is 23.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, fewer than the 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.
17% more people are on EI in Census Division No. 18 than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 4%. At its peak, in April 2021, 1,620 people were on EI, 1.7 times the 2019 average. Roughly 7.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: 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).
Walking in Fisher earns B
Better than 60% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Fisher, compared
The nearest places to Fisher with figures are 23–43 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fisher | 69% | 7.1% | $60K | 24.7 min | D | B |
| Peguis 1B 23.3 km | 40% | 18% | $60K | 16.2 min | C− | D |
| Bifrost-Riverton 30.6 km | 73% | 6.1% | $69K | 21.5 min | C+ | B |
| Arborg 34 km | 83% | 5% | $63K | 17.9 min | B+ | A+ |
| Fisher River 44 43.2 km | 44% | 17% | $52K | 13.5 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 Fisher, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Fisher
Where do people in Fisher work?
Most stay: 68% work in Fisher. The rest go first to Arborg (70) and Bifrost-Riverton (15).
How many jobs are there in Fisher?
About 455 people had their usual place of work in Fisher at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 72 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Fisher?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 7.1% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Interlake economic region at 2.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Fisher?
The median household in Fisher had $60,000 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Fisher get to work?
89% of commuters go by car, 7.4% walk. On census day 24% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Fisher?
On average 24.7 minutes; 34% take under 15 minutes and 6.5% 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).