Photo: Vince pahkala · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in St. Laurent are less likely to have a job than in 93% of Canadian towns
Median household income in St. Laurent was $66,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The average trip to work from St. Laurent is 39.3 minutes; 35% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. 22% of the labour force in St. Laurent was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
St. Laurent and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 60% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 42%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 22% 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
Half the households here had more than $66,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 39.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 35% 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.
St. Laurent earns D− for jobs and income
Better than 2% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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 St. Laurent, 60% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 54% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 42% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 61% in October 2026. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
How St. Laurent’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 74% of Canadian towns.
St. Laurent’s median is 20% below the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900). 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 St. Laurent
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 34.4 minutes. The middle of Manitoba’s towns averages 23.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 33%, 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.
The daily tide in St. Laurent runs outward
Each person commuting in is matched by about 3 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 39% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
61% of St. Laurent’s residents in work leave it to work; Winnipeg takes the most
Winnipeg sends the largest group the other way, 25 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2.4% of commuters from St. Laurent go without a car
Nearly everyone drives: 92% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 18%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in Census Division No. 18 run 17% above their 2019 level
That is about 7.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 4%. At its peak, in April 2021, 1,620 people were on EI, 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: one figure for all of 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 St. Laurent: D
Better than 10% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in the places around St. Laurent
No closer places have figures: these lie 29–48 km from St. Laurent.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Laurent | 60% | 22% | $67K | 39.3 min | D− | D |
| Woodlands 28.8 km | 80% | 3.1% | $91K | 35.1 min | B− | C+ |
| Coldwell 35.5 km | 82% | 6.2% | $67K | 24.7 min | B− | B− |
| Armstrong 46.3 km | 73% | 8.4% | $62K | 29.4 min | D | C− |
| Teulon 47.8 km | 81% | 4.4% | $66K | 33.9 min | C− | A+ |
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 St. Laurent, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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. 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in St. Laurent
How long is the commute from St. Laurent?
39.3 minutes is the average trip, with 33% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 35% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in St. Laurent work?
39% work in St. Laurent itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Winnipeg (85), then West Interlake (25).
How many jobs are there in St. Laurent?
The 2021 census counted about 170 people working in St. Laurent: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 29 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in St. Laurent?
Two figures answer it: 22% 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 St. Laurent?
Before tax, half the households in St. Laurent had more than $66,800 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in St. Laurent get to work?
By car: 92% of commuters, 2.4% walk; on census day 18% of those in work worked from home.
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).