Photo: The original uploader was Northwest at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Few Canadian towns have as many of their 15-to-64s in work as Sifton
In May 2021, unemployment in Sifton reached 2.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. 155 people have their usual place of work in Sifton, against 410 residents who travel to a job. The median household in Sifton had $78,100 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Sifton and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
92% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 63%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 2.3% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 5.8% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Sifton earns B+ for jobs and income
Better than 71% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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.
In Sifton, 92% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 63% of residents 15 and over were in work. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 60% in October 2026. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
A larger share in work than in almost any Canadian town.
Each working day, more people leave Sifton for work than come in
For every person who comes in to work, about 6 residents travel out. 26% 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.
74% of Sifton’s residents in work leave it to work; Virden takes the most
Coming the other way, Wallace-Woodworth sends the most (20).
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 Sifton work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Sifton earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 52% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Manitoba’s towns is $83,900, and Sifton is 7% below it. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Sifton gets to work without a car for 13% of commuters
86% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Working at home: 21%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Close to the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Sifton average 27.1 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 22.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Manitoba’s towns, the average commute is 23.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 29%, fewer than the 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. An hour or more: 5.9% of commuters, close to 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in Census Division No. 6 are back near their 2019 level
That works out to around 3.5 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. In January 2021 it reached 490, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average.
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. 6. 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 Sifton: B+
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in the places around Sifton
Distances here run 23–26 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sifton.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sifton | 92% | 2.3% | $78K | 27.1 min | B+ | B+ |
| Sioux Valley Dakota Nation 22.8 km | 35% | 18% | $47K | 16 min | D | C− |
| Virden 25.2 km | 80% | 8.8% | $72K | 14.6 min | A | A |
| Grassland 25.6 km | 76% | 5.4% | $76K | 22.4 min | B | B+ |
| Wallace-Woodworth 26.4 km | 88% | 3.1% | $82K | 21.8 min | A | 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 Sifton, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Sifton
What is the average household income in Sifton?
Sifton’s middle household had $78,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Sifton get to work?
86% of commuters go by car, 13% walk. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Sifton?
On average 27.1 minutes; 29% take under 15 minutes and 5.9% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Sifton work?
26% work in Sifton itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Virden (115), then Brandon (70).
How many jobs are there in Sifton?
About 155 people had their usual place of work in Sifton at the 2021 census, 0.4 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 56 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sifton?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Southwest economic region at 5.8%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 2.3%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).