Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes put Belledune near the very bottom of Canadian towns
56% of people aged 15 to 64 in Belledune had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Jobs located in Belledune: 465, for 250 residents with a usual workplace. Belledune had an unemployment rate of 23% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Belledune at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 56% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 33%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 23% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 9.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $49,700 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
465 people work in Belledune and 250 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.
Jobs and income in Belledune earn D
Better than 6% 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 Belledune has a job
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Restigouche census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 48% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 42% of residents that age. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 33% were working. 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.
Median household income in Belledune: $49,700 in 2020
Set beside New Brunswick’s towns, where the median is $73,200, Belledune sits 32% below. 2 of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Restigouche census division have a higher median. 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).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
Workers pour into Belledune: 77% more on a working day
About 3 people arrive to work in Belledune for each resident who goes out. 48% 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.
344 people come into Belledune to work, most from Beresford and Bathurst
- Beresford100
- Bathurst45
- Durham30
- Dalhousie25
- Bathurst25
- Charlo20
- Pointe-Verte20
- Beresford20
- Petit-Rocher15
- Eel River Crossing10
- Dalhousie40
- Bathurst35
- Fredericton10
- Durham10
- Bathurst10
- Saint-Henri10
Of everyone working in Belledune, 74% come in from elsewhere; 100 make the 23 km trip from Beresford. Going the other way, Dalhousie is the biggest single destination (40).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
4.2% of commuters from Belledune go without a car
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 7.6%, under the 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).
At 23.2 minutes, commutes from Belledune are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 20.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of New Brunswick’s towns averages 20.8 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 38%, fewer than the 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. An hour or more: 4.2% of commuters, above the 2.7% in the middle of New Brunswick’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.
About as many people are on EI in the Restigouche census division as in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%. The highest month was March 2021: 4,190 people, 1.6 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 11.4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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). Belledune shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Restigouche census division.
Walking in Belledune earns C−
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in the places around Belledune
The nearest places to Belledune with figures are 23–29 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belledune | 56% | 23% | $50K | 23.2 min | D | C− |
| Petit-Rocher 23.1 km | 66% | 11% | $59K | 21.5 min | C− | B |
| Beresford 23.1 km | 67% | 12% | $70K | 21.7 min | C | D |
| Carleton-sur-Mer 24.5 km | 74% | 11% | $64K | 19.2 min | C+ | B+ |
| Nigadoo 26.1 km | 63% | 14% | $69K | 20.1 min | C | C |
| Maria 28.6 km | 74% | 4.8% | $73K | 19.8 min | B | 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 Belledune, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t 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.
- 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. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- 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.
- 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 Belledune
What is the unemployment rate in Belledune?
The 2021 census found 23% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Campbellton-Miramichi economic region, is 9.6% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Belledune?
Before tax, half the households in Belledune had more than $49,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Belledune get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 4.2% walk; 7.6% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Belledune?
The average commute is 23.2 minutes; 38% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Belledune work?
Only 48% work in Belledune itself; the rest go first to Dalhousie (40) and Bathurst (35).
How many jobs are there in Belledune?
The 2021 census found about 465 people with their usual workplace in Belledune, or 1.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 29 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).