Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Stewiacke earn less than those in 77% of Canadian towns
Most commutes from Stewiacke take well under an hour: the average is 26.1 minutes, and 3.1% take 60 minutes or longer. Jobs located in Stewiacke: 320, for 535 residents with a usual workplace. Of everyone in Stewiacke working or looking for work in May 2021, 7.1% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Stewiacke
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 7.1% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 6.8%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $65,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Stewiacke grades C for jobs and income
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
How many in Stewiacke were working in 2021
All 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Colchester census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 59% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 54%: many residents are past working age. 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.
Before tax, the median household in Stewiacke had $65,500
The middle of Nova Scotia’s towns is $69,150, and Stewiacke is 5% below it. 2 of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Colchester census division have a higher median. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Stewiacke is quieter on a working day than at night
535 residents of Stewiacke had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 320 people had theirs in Stewiacke, wherever they lived.
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 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 Stewiacke’s residents in work leave it to work; Halifax takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Colchester County, Subdivision C, with 110.
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 Stewiacke work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Stewiacke gets to work without a car for 9.4% of commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns: 86% against 92%. Home was the workplace for 9.2%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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.
Commuting times in Stewiacke
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 22.5 minutes. In the middle of Nova Scotia’s towns, the average commute is 23 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, fewer than the 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
In the Colchester census division, 12% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 1%. At its peak, in May 2021, 3,670 people were on EI, 2.2 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 5.3 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Colchester 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 grade for Stewiacke: B+
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Stewiacke: the places around it
No closer places have figures: these lie 11–25 km from Stewiacke.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewiacke | 77% | 7.1% | $66K | 26.1 min | C | B+ |
| Indian Brook 14 10.5 km | 54% | 14% | $62K | 28.1 min | D− | D |
| Colchester County, Subdivision C 19.6 km | 71% | 11% | $74K | 25.3 min | C | C− |
| Millbrook 27 21.9 km | 45% | 14% | $54K | 21.3 min | D | B− |
| Enfield 22.6 km | 74% | 11% | $85K | 31.2 min | C | C |
| Truro 25.4 km | 66% | 16% | $55K | 17.9 min | C− | A |
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 Stewiacke, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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 Stewiacke
How do people in Stewiacke get to work?
By car: 86% of commuters, 9.4% walk; on census day 9.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Stewiacke?
26.1 minutes is the average trip, with 34% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 3.1% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Stewiacke work?
Only 27% work in Stewiacke itself; the rest go first to Halifax (175) and Truro (80).
How many jobs are there in Stewiacke?
The 2021 census counted about 320 people working in Stewiacke: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 49 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Stewiacke?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 7.1% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the North Shore economic region at 6.8% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Stewiacke?
The median household in Stewiacke had $65,500 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).