Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainSaint-Joseph has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.2 for each
The 2021 census found 75% of working-age people in Saint-Joseph employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Before tax, the typical household in Saint-Joseph brought in $74,000 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Saint-Joseph had an unemployment rate of 10% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Saint-Joseph and work: the main findings
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 75% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 57%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 10% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.1%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Saint-Joseph: C+
Better than 44% 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.
More of Saint-Joseph’s workers leave each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 10 residents going out. The job is inside the municipality for 6.5% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
94% of Saint-Joseph’s residents in work leave it to work; Edmundston takes the most
- Edmundston25
- Rivière-Verte15
- Saint-Jacques10
- Edmundston445
- Haut-Madawaska35
- Fredericton25
- Saint-Léonard15
- St. Basile 1015
Inbound, the leader is Edmundston (25).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Saint-Joseph
A smaller share in work than in 52% of Canadian towns.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 57%: many residents are past working age. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 56% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 64% of residents that age. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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 Saint-Joseph’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of New Brunswick’s towns ($73,200), Saint-Joseph’s median is 1% above. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 0% of Saint-Joseph’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 5.1% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 97% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Saint-Joseph average 23.6 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 31%, fewer than the 44% in the middle of New Brunswick’s towns. 6.2% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of New Brunswick’s towns has 2.7%. Timed exactly, the average is 19.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of New Brunswick’s towns, the average commute is 20.8 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.
EI claims in the Madawaska census division run 4% below their 2019 level
The count topped out in February 2021 at 3,590 people, 2.2 times the 2019 average. That is about 6.9 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Madawaska census division. 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 Saint-Joseph: C−
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Saint-Joseph
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Joseph | 75% | 10% | $74K | 23.6 min | C+ | C− |
| Saint-Jacques 4.3 km | 71% | 5.7% | $71K | 20.1 min | C+ | D− |
| Edmundston 8.2 km | 72% | 7.9% | $59K | 13.9 min | C+ | 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 Saint-Joseph, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Saint-Joseph
How many jobs are there in Saint-Joseph?
The 2021 census found about 90 people with their usual workplace in Saint-Joseph, or 0.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 58 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Joseph?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Edmundston-Woodstock economic region at 6.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 10%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Saint-Joseph?
The census puts Saint-Joseph at $74,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Saint-Joseph get to work?
97% of commuters drive; 5.1% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Saint-Joseph?
The average commute is 23.6 minutes; 31% of trips take under 15 minutes and 6.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Saint-Joseph work?
Only 6.5% work in Saint-Joseph itself; the rest go first to Edmundston (445) and Haut-Madawaska (35).
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).