Photo: ParsonsPhotographyNL · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Corner Brook than in 87% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Corner Brook stood at 14% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. For 2.6% of commuters in Corner Brook, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 13.5 minutes. In 2020, a household at the middle of Corner Brook had $63,900 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Corner Brook and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 65% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 47% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 8.4% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 14%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $63,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
A local job centre
8,535 people work in Corner Brook and 6,095 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 13.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.6% 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 Jobs & income grade for Corner Brook: C
Better than 34% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #13 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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.
How many in Corner Brook have a job: 65% of 15-to-64s
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 51% in work in October 2026. 55% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 47% of residents 15 and over were in work. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Corner Brook earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 80% of Canadian towns.
Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted 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 Corner Brook gains 36% in workers
6,095 residents of Corner Brook had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 8,535 people had theirs in Corner Brook, wherever they lived.
About 5 people arrive to work in Corner Brook for each resident who goes out. Of those who commute, 89% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Corner Brook
Trips under 15 minutes: 74%, more than the 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 12.7 minutes. In the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the average commute is 19 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
3,123 people come into Corner Brook to work, most from Pasadena and Massey Drive
- Pasadena600
- Massey Drive565
- Irishtown-Summerside280
- Humber Arm South220
- Mount Moriah210
- Division No. 5, Subd. F165
- Gillams155
- Meadows115
- Deer Lake105
- Steady Brook95
- Gillams135
- Bay Bulls75
- Mount Pearl55
- Humber Arm South40
- Witless Bay25
- Deer Lake25
- Division No. 10, Subd. E (SNO)25
- Stephenville20
- Division No. 5, Subd. F20
- Steady Brook20
Of everyone working in Corner Brook, 37% come in from elsewhere; 600 make the 27 km trip from Pasadena. Going the other way, Gillams is the biggest single destination (135).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Corner Brook work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 7.4% of commuters in Corner Brook
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 6.5% against 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 90% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 7.9% against 21%. Transit takes 0.7% of commuters, against 3.5% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
8% fewer people are on EI in Census Division No. 5 than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 6,030 people, 1.7 times the 2019 average. That is about 11.3 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 beneficiaries: Census Division No. 5. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Corner Brook earns B+ for walkability
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #7 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Corner Brook ranks: 256th of 447 Canadian towns of 14,400 to 27,700
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Paradise Newfoundland and Labrador | 26,155 | 77% | 8.5% | $111K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 107 | Mount Pearl Newfoundland and Labrador | 24,266 | 72% | 10% | $81K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 254 | Wîhkwêntôwin Alberta | 19,050 | 76% | 12% | $64K | C |
| 255 | Beauharnois Quebec | 15,285 | 79% | 6.1% | $69K | C |
| 256 | Corner Brook Newfoundland and Labrador | 20,549 | 65% | 14% | $64K | C |
| 257 | Lairet Quebec | 15,251 | 77% | 10% | $49K | C |
| 258 | Heart Lake South Ontario | 19,573 | 69% | 12% | $117K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 261 | Grand Falls-Windsor Newfoundland and Labrador | 14,510 | 62% | 16% | $66K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 447 | South Parkdale Ontario | 21,663 | 64% | 17% | $57K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Corner Brook, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
How Corner Brook compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corner Brook | 65% | 14% | $64K | 13.5 min | C | B+ |
| Irishtown-Summerside 4.3 km | 60% | 17% | $71K | 25 min | D | D |
| Massey Drive 4.5 km | 80% | 7.7% | $112K | 14.9 min | A+ | D |
| Humber Arm South 16 km | 63% | 18% | $70K | 25.8 min | D | C |
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 Corner Brook, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- 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 census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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 Corner Brook
How long is the commute from Corner Brook?
13.5 minutes is the average trip, with 74% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.6% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Corner Brook work?
Most stay: 89% work in Corner Brook. The rest go first to Gillams (135) and Bay Bulls (75).
How many jobs are there in Corner Brook?
The 2021 census counted about 8,535 people working in Corner Brook: 1.4 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 881 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Corner Brook?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 14% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador economic region at 8.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Corner Brook?
Before tax, half the households in Corner Brook had more than $63,900 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Corner Brook get to work?
By car: 90% of commuters, 0.7% take public transit, 6.5% walk and 0.2% cycle; on census day 7.9% 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).