Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebfoto/ Emile Baddour · CC0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Holyrood trails that of 82% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 12% of Holyrood’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Holyrood takes 29.4 minutes on average, an hour or more for 6%. Median household income in Holyrood was $88,800 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What stands out about work in Holyrood
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 67% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 48%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 29.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 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.
Jobs & income in Holyrood: graded C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #17 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Work for 67% of 15-to-64s in Holyrood
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 1, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 48% were working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
Time on the road to work from Holyrood
Trips under 15 minutes: 27%, fewer than the 56% in the middle of Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 25.3 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.
The daily tide in Holyrood runs outward
The job is inside the municipality for 27% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
73% of Holyrood’s residents in work leave it to work; St. John's takes the most
- Conception Bay South155
- Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview85
- Paradise30
- St. John's20
- Mount Carmel-Mitchells Brook-St. Catherine's15
- Division No. 1, Subd. O15
- Mount Pearl15
- Division No. 1, Subdivision Y10
- Division No. 1, Subdivision E10
- Spaniard's Bay10
- St. John's220
- Conception Bay South95
- Mount Pearl40
- Paradise30
- Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview25
- Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights15
- Bay Roberts15
Inbound, the leader is Conception Bay South (155).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Holyrood
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 73% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns, where the median is $63,700, Holyrood sits 39% above. 5 of the 13 other places of 2,500+ in Census Division No. 1 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).
Without a car, 4.2% of Holyrood’s commuters get to work
Transit takes 1.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 14%, 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 1 run 4% below their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 11%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 31,470 people, 2.2 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 7.3 receive EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (Census Division No. 1). 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 Holyrood: C−
Better than 23% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #30 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Holyrood ranks: 373rd of 497 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,601 | 78% | 9.5% | $130K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 345 | Channel-Port aux Basques Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,379 | 61% | 17% | $63K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 371 | Glengarry Alberta | 3,087 | 61% | 16% | $76K | C− |
| 372 | Richfield Alberta | 3,456 | 55% | 18% | $80K | C− |
| 373 | Holyrood Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,749 | 67% | 12% | $89K | C− |
| 374 | Burkholme Ontario | 3,580 | 69% | 15% | $76K | C− |
| 375 | Bonavista Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,293 | 63% | 18% | $54K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 405 | Springdale Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,893 | 54% | 15% | $58K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Holyrood, and others among Newfoundland and Labrador’s towns.
How the places next to Holyrood compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holyrood | 67% | 12% | $89K | 29.4 min | C− | C− |
| Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview 3.3 km | 67% | 17% | $79K | 31.8 min | D | C |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M 15.7 km | 54% | 15% | $75K | 31.2 min | D | D− |
| Conception Bay South 15.9 km | 72% | 11% | $94K | 22.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Clarke's Beach 17.9 km | 66% | 14% | $60K | 23.8 min | D | 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 Holyrood, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- 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. 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Holyrood
Where do people in Holyrood work?
Only 27% work in Holyrood itself; the rest go first to St. John's (220) and Conception Bay South (95).
How many jobs are there in Holyrood?
Some 575 people worked in Holyrood at the 2021 census: 0.9 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 109 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Holyrood?
The census put unemployment at 12% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the St. John's metro area at 6.5%.
What is the average household income in Holyrood?
The median household in Holyrood had $88,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Holyrood get to work?
Driving takes 93% of commuters to work, 1.2% take public transit and 3% walk, and on census day 14% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Holyrood?
About 29.4 minutes on average, with 27% under a quarter-hour and 6% at an hour or longer.
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).