Photo: Brendanriley · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Antigonish earn less than those in 95% of Canadian towns
66% of people aged 15 to 64 in Antigonish had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. From Antigonish, the drive or ride to work averages 15.6 minutes, with 4.1% going an hour or longer. Antigonish is the usual workplace of 3,750 people, and 1,455 of its own residents commute to a job.
What sets Antigonish apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 66% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 51%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6.8% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 18%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $55,100 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
3,750 people work in Antigonish and 1,455 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 15.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.1% 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.
On jobs and income, Antigonish grades C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #53 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
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.
Who in Antigonish has a job
A smaller share in work than in 85% of Canadian towns.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 51%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 56% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Counting those looking for work too, 61% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Median household income in Antigonish: $55,100 in 2020
Against the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns ($69,150), Antigonish’s median is 20% below. 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, 3,966 people work in Antigonish, 2.4 times its working residents
For every resident who leaves Antigonish for work, about 6 people come in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Antigonish
Timed exactly, the average is 13.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns averages 23 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 72% of commuters, against 46% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns.
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.
2,788 people come into Antigonish to work, most from Antigonish County, Subdivision A and Antigonish County, Subdivision B
Of everyone working in Antigonish, 74% come in from elsewhere; 1,575 make the 4 km trip from Antigonish County, Subdivision A. The main destination the other way is Antigonish County, Subdivision A, with 300.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
18% of commuters from Antigonish go without a car
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 17% against 3.3%. 80% drive to work, fewer than the 92% in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns. Home was the workplace for 11%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, 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).
In the Antigonish census division, 13% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
That is about 8.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%. In August 2021 it reached 1,860, the most in the series and 1.5 times the 2019 average.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Antigonish census division, Antigonish included.
On getting around on foot, Antigonish grades A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #8 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Antigonish is 571st among 728 Canadian towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Hubley Nova Scotia | 6,337 | 79% | 7.4% | $112K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Upper Tantallon Nova Scotia | 5,248 | 80% | 8.6% | $129K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 251 | Westphal Nova Scotia | 4,201 | 70% | 10% | $109K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 569 | Abbeydale Alberta | 6,561 | 66% | 15% | $86K | C− |
| 570 | Lorelei Alberta | 4,380 | 60% | 17% | $87K | C− |
| 571 | Antigonish Nova Scotia | 5,175 | 66% | 18% | $55K | C− |
| 572 | Meadowgreen Saskatchewan | 3,782 | 64% | 9.5% | $64K | C− |
| 573 | Belmont Alberta | 5,299 | 65% | 14% | $88K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 728 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Antigonish, and others among Nova Scotia’s towns.
How Antigonish compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigonish | 66% | 18% | $55K | 15.6 min | C− | A+ |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision A 3.7 km | 78% | 9.1% | $82K | 20.8 min | A− | C+ |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision B 18.4 km | 73% | 13% | $75K | 23.7 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 Antigonish, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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.
- 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 Antigonish
How many jobs are there in Antigonish?
The 2021 census found about 3,750 people with their usual workplace in Antigonish, or 2.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 294 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Antigonish?
Two figures answer it: 18% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.8% for the North Shore economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Antigonish?
The census puts Antigonish at $55,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Antigonish get to work?
80% of commuters drive, 17% walk and 0.9% cycle; 11% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Antigonish?
The average commute is 15.6 minutes; 72% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Antigonish work?
66% work in Antigonish itself; of those who leave, the most go to Antigonish County, Subdivision A (300), then Antigonish County, Subdivision B (70).
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).