Photo: VirdenPioneers · CC BY-SA 4.0A larger share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Virden than in 76% of Canadian towns
Getting to work from Virden takes 14.6 minutes on average, an hour or more for 3.5%. Half the households in Virden had more than $71,800 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Virden had an unemployment rate of 8.8% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Virden
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 80% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 58%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $71,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 1,815 jobs based in Virden and 1,045 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 14.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.5% 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.
On jobs and income, Virden grades A
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #36 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.
Virden at work: 80% of people aged 15 to 64
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 63%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 58%. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
What households in Virden earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 61% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Manitoba’s towns is $83,900, and Virden is 14% below it. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On a working day Virden gains 66% in workers
Each resident commuting out of Virden is matched by about 8 coming in. 89% 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.
Time on the road to work from Virden
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 11.8 minutes. In the middle of Manitoba’s towns, the average commute is 23.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 78% of commuters, against 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.
887 people come into Virden to work, most from Wallace-Woodworth and Sifton
- Wallace-Woodworth430
- Sifton115
- Pipestone75
- Brandon75
- Prairie View50
- Ellice-Archie20
- Two Borders15
- Whitehead15
- Cornwallis15
- Minnedosa15
- Pipestone20
- Wallace-Woodworth20
- Brandon20
- Winnipeg10
- Prairie View10
- Maryfield10
49% of the people who work in Virden live outside it, 430 of them in Wallace-Woodworth, 3 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Pipestone (20).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Virden gets to work without a car for 7.9% of commuters
Home was the workplace for 8.9%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 7.1% of commuters, well above the 3.8% in the middle of Manitoba’s towns. Driving takes 90% of commuters to work; the middle of Manitoba’s towns has 87%.
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. 6 are back near their 2019 level
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 3.5 are on EI. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 490 people on EI, 2.5 times 2019’s 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. 6. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Everyday places on foot in Virden: A
Better than 89% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #76 of 185 in Manitoba.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Virden ranks: 103rd of 714 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 101 | Corkery Ontario | 3,822 | 83% | 4.7% | $158K | A |
| 102 | Eau Claire Alberta | 3,733 | 79% | 10% | $94K | A |
| 103 | Virden Manitoba | 3,322 | 80% | 8.8% | $72K | A |
| 104 | Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel Quebec | 2,770 | 80% | 4.8% | $80K | A |
| 105 | Electoral Area D, Cariboo British Columbia | 3,057 | 79% | 6.5% | $86K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 714 | 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 Virden, and others among Manitoba’s towns.
Jobs near Virden: the places around it
Distances here run 3–44 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Virden.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virden | 80% | 8.8% | $72K | 14.6 min | A | A |
| Wallace-Woodworth 3.1 km | 88% | 3.1% | $82K | 21.8 min | A | B− |
| Sifton 25.2 km | 92% | 2.3% | $78K | 27.1 min | B+ | B+ |
| Sioux Valley Dakota Nation 30.4 km | 35% | 18% | $47K | 16 min | D | C− |
| Pipestone 34.4 km | 81% | 8.3% | $74K | 19.7 min | A− | A |
| Hamiota 44.3 km | 94% | 3.1% | $73K | 17.9 min | A | 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 Virden, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. 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. 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 Virden
How long is the commute from Virden?
14.6 minutes is the average trip, with 78% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 3.5% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Virden work?
89% work in Virden itself; of those who leave, the most go to Pipestone (20), then Wallace-Woodworth (20).
How many jobs are there in Virden?
The 2021 census counted about 1,815 people working in Virden: 1.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 260 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Virden?
The census put unemployment at 8.8% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Southwest economic region at 5.8%.
What is the average household income in Virden?
The median household in Virden had $71,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Virden get to work?
By car: 90% of commuters, 7.1% walk and 0.8% cycle; on census day 8.9% 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).