Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Dalhousie earn less than those in 96% of Canadian towns
At the 2021 census, 55% of Dalhousie’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Dalhousie takes 16.8 minutes on average, an hour or more for 1.8%. Unemployment in Dalhousie stood at 12% on census day 2021, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Jobs and income in Dalhousie: what the figures say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 55% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 35%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $54,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 990 jobs based in Dalhousie and 720 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 16.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 1.8% 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.
Jobs and income in Dalhousie earn C−
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #58 of 60 in New Brunswick.
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.
Who in Dalhousie has a job
A smaller share in work than in 97% of Canadian towns.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 35% were working. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 48% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 39% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Household income in Dalhousie: $54,300 at the median
Against the middle of New Brunswick’s towns ($73,200), Dalhousie’s median is 26% below. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
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 Dalhousie gains 34% in workers
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Dalhousie. 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.
The length of the trip to work in Dalhousie
The middle of New Brunswick’s towns averages 20.8 minutes. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.3 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.
644 people come into Dalhousie to work, most from Eel River Crossing and Balmoral
- Eel River Crossing140
- Balmoral95
- Charlo90
- Campbellton60
- Atholville40
- Belledune40
- Durham35
- Dalhousie (New Brunswick part)35
- Eel River 315
- Colborne10
- Campbellton155
- Atholville55
- Charlo50
- Belledune25
- Balmoral20
- Eel River 320
- Eel River Crossing20
- Devon 3015
65% of the people who work in Dalhousie live outside it, 140 of them in Eel River Crossing, 8 km away. Going the other way, Campbellton is the biggest single destination (155).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5.4% of Dalhousie’s commuters
Only 8.7% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. 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.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Restigouche census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%. The count topped out in March 2021 at 4,190 people, 1.6 times the 2019 average. That is about 11.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Dalhousie alone, so this card uses the figure for the Restigouche census division.
The walkability of Dalhousie: A−
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #10 of 60 in New Brunswick.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Dalhousie ranks: 580th of 694 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 61 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 3,198 | 79% | 4.9% | $105K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 85 | Grand Manan New Brunswick | 2,648 | 78% | 12% | $77K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 153 | Wakefield New Brunswick | 2,749 | 81% | 7.3% | $71K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 578 | East Preston Nova Scotia | 2,573 | 61% | 14% | $75K | C− |
| 579 | Pollard Meadows Alberta | 4,361 | 63% | 14% | $80K | C− |
| 580 | Dalhousie New Brunswick | 3,255 | 55% | 12% | $54K | C− |
| 581 | Bancroft Ontario | 4,331 | 63% | 12% | $57K | C− |
| 582 | Algonquin Highlands Ontario | 2,915 | 64% | 11% | $77K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 694 | 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 Dalhousie, and others among New Brunswick’s towns.
Work next door to Dalhousie
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie | 55% | 12% | $54K | 16.8 min | C− | A− |
| Eel River Crossing 7.7 km | 69% | 12% | $61K | 19.8 min | C | C− |
| Charlo 8.2 km | 76% | 8.8% | $74K | 20.3 min | B | C |
| Nouvelle 9.7 km | 74% | 10% | $65K | 19.9 min | C+ | C |
| Dalhousie 10.2 km | 75% | 5.6% | $72K | 17.7 min | B | D− |
| Balmoral 11.2 km | 73% | 9.4% | $69K | 22.3 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 Dalhousie, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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 Dalhousie
How do people in Dalhousie get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 5.4% walk, and on census day 8.7% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Dalhousie?
About 16.8 minutes on average, with 55% under a quarter-hour and 1.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Dalhousie work?
48% work in Dalhousie itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Campbellton (155), then Atholville (55).
How many jobs are there in Dalhousie?
Some 990 people worked in Dalhousie at the 2021 census: 1.4 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 83 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Dalhousie?
Two figures answer it: 12% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 9.6% for the Campbellton-Miramichi economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Dalhousie?
Dalhousie’s middle household had $54,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).