Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Fortune earn less than those in 94% of Canadian towns
From Fortune, the drive or ride to work averages 17.7 minutes, with 12% going an hour or longer. In Fortune, 56% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Out of work in May 2021: 22% of Fortune’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The work figures that set Fortune apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 56% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 36% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021, 22% of those working or looking had no job; the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $56,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
255 people work in Fortune and 230 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 17.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 12% 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.
Jobs and income in Fortune earn C−
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Fortune has a job
A smaller share in work than in 96% of Canadian towns.
Counting those looking for work too, 45% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 36% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
Fortune households: $56,800 a year at the median
Set beside Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, where the median is $63,700, Fortune sits 11% 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).
A working day adds 10% to the people at work in Fortune
230 residents of Fortune had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 255 people had theirs in Fortune, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 57% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Fortune
In the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, the average commute is 19 minutes. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 30.5 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.
125 people come into Fortune to work, most from Grand Bank and Marystown
- Grand Bank80
- Marystown15
- Lamaline10
Of everyone working in Fortune, 49% come in from elsewhere; 80 make the 6 km trip from Grand Bank. Outbound, Grand Bank takes the most: 80 people.
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 Fortune work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 17% of commuters in Fortune
Transit takes 2.6% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns has 3.5% walking; here, 14% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns: 81% against 92%. Only 3.7% worked at home on census day, against 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in Census Division No. 2 run 15% below their 2019 level
At its peak, in February 2021, 3,910 people were on EI, 1.6 times the 2019 average. Roughly 15.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for Census Division No. 2, not by town. 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 Fortune: A−
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work in and around Fortune
Distances here run 6–49 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Fortune.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortune | 56% | 22% | $57K | 17.7 min | C− | A− |
| Grand Bank 6.2 km | 60% | 18% | $57K | 15.7 min | C− | A |
| St. Lawrence 37 km | 64% | 18% | $64K | 12.4 min | C | A− |
| Harbour Breton 44.9 km | 68% | 15% | $72K | 14.4 min | B− | A− |
| Burin 49.5 km | 64% | 18% | $66K | 22.7 min | C− | 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 Fortune, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- 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. 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. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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.
- 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 Fortune
What is the unemployment rate in Fortune?
The 2021 census found 22% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Fortune?
At $56,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Fortune compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Fortune get to work?
By car: 81% of commuters, 2.6% take public transit and 14% walk; on census day 3.7% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Fortune?
17.7 minutes is the average trip, with 80% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 12% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Fortune work?
57% work in Fortune itself; of those who leave, the most go to Grand Bank (80).
How many jobs are there in Fortune?
The 2021 census counted about 255 people working in Fortune: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 111 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, 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).