Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in The Pas trails that of 77% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 9.8% of people in The Pas who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. From The Pas, the drive or ride to work averages 12.9 minutes, with 1.9% going an hour or longer. In 2020, a household at the middle of The Pas had $85,600 before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What sets The Pas apart on jobs and income
A local job centre
2,775 people work in The Pas and 2,155 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 12.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 1.9% 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.
The Pas grades B+ for jobs and income
Better than 73% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #71 of 185 in Manitoba.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
On a working day The Pas gains 27% in workers
The Pas takes in some 3 workers for every resident it sends out. 86% 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.
How long the commute from The Pas takes
A quarter-hour or less for 78% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 10.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Manitoba’s towns averages 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.
924 people come into The Pas to work, most from Kelsey and Division No. 21, Unorganized
- Kelsey495
- Division No. 21, Unorganized175
- Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21E90
- Winnipeg45
- Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21A25
- Division No. 22, Unorganized15
- Minitonas-Bowsman10
- Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21I10
- Moose Lake 31A10
- Denare Beach10
Of everyone working in The Pas, 33% come in from elsewhere; 495 make the 41 km trip from Kelsey. The main destination the other way is Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21E, with 205.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work for 68% of 15-to-64s in The Pas
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 67%. 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 The Pas earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 67% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Manitoba’s towns ($83,900), The Pas’ median is 2% above. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
Without a car, 17% of The Pas’ commuters get to work
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 16% of commuters, well above the 3.8% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. The car takes 82% of commuters here, under the 87% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Only 5% worked at home on census day, against 21% 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. 21 run 16% below their 2019 level
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of Census Division No. 21, The Pas included.
In August 2021 it reached 1,520, the most in the series and 1.8 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 5.6 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 35%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. 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 The Pas: A
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #74 of 185 in Manitoba.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, The Pas is 183rd among 712 Canadian towns of 3,900 to 7,600
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| 4 | Neepawa Manitoba | 6,328 | 85% | 2.9% | $84K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 181 | North Middlesex Ontario | 6,864 | 84% | 6.7% | $89K | B+ |
| 182 | L'Ange-Gardien Quebec | 7,068 | 79% | 5.8% | $119K | B+ |
| 183 | The Pas Manitoba | 5,634 | 68% | 9.8% | $86K | B+ |
| 184 | Beaverbrook Ontario | 6,762 | 73% | 11% | $107K | B+ |
| 185 | Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley British Columbia | 4,482 | 77% | 6.9% | $84K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 712 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of The Pas, and others among Manitoba’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around The Pas
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Pas | 68% | 9.8% | $86K | 12.9 min | B+ | A |
| Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21E 3.8 km | 45% | 28% | $70K | 13.1 min | C | B |
| Division No. 21, Unorganized 19.2 km | 60% | 14% | $98K | 26.4 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 The Pas, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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 The Pas
How long is the commute from The Pas?
On average 12.9 minutes; 78% take under 15 minutes and 1.9% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in The Pas work?
86% work in The Pas itself; of those who leave, the most go to Opaskwayak Cree Nation 21E (205), then Flin Flon (Part) (15).
How many jobs are there in The Pas?
About 2,775 people had their usual place of work in The Pas at the 2021 census, 1.3 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 211 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in The Pas?
The 2021 census found 9.8% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in The Pas?
The median household in The Pas had $85,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in The Pas get to work?
82% of commuters go by car, 16% walk and 0.4% cycle. On census day 5% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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, 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).