Photo: sfbnurse https://www.flickr.com/people/sfbnurse/ · CC BY 2.0Households in Fort Simpson have higher incomes than those in 95% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 11% of Fort Simpson’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Getting to work from Fort Simpson takes 11.2 minutes on average, an hour or more for 2%. At the 2021 census, 68% of Fort Simpson’s 15-to-64s were in work; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Fort Simpson at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
68% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 58%. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $113,900 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 11.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2% 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 Fort Simpson: A
Better than 90% 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.
How many in Fort Simpson were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 79% of Canadian towns.
Working or looking, 66% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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 earned in Fort Simpson: $113,900 in 2020
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).
How long the commute from Fort Simpson takes
A quarter-hour or less for 86% of commuters, against 36% in the middle of Canadian towns. Timed exactly, the average is 8.5 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
In and out of Fort Simpson: the working day evens out
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. 87% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
13% of Fort Simpson’s residents in work leave it to work; Déline takes the most
- Déline10
- Fort Providence10
- Wrigley10
- Hay River10
- Déline10
- Tulita10
- Fort Liard10
- Fort Providence10
- Fort Resolution10
- Yellowknife10
Inbound, the leader is Déline (10).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 22% of Fort Simpson’s commuters
76% drive to work, fewer than the 89% in the middle of Canadian towns. Only 8.4% worked at home on census day, against 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Region 4 census division as in 2019
For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Region 4 census division, Fort Simpson included.
The highest month was April 2021: 220 people, 1.9 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.2 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Walking in Fort Simpson earns A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Fort Simpson, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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 Fort Simpson
How do people in Fort Simpson get to work?
76% of commuters go by car, 22% walk. On census day 8.4% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Fort Simpson?
On average 11.2 minutes; 86% take under 15 minutes and 2% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fort Simpson work?
Most stay: 87% work in Fort Simpson. The rest go first to Déline (10) and Tulita (10).
How many jobs are there in Fort Simpson?
About 405 people had their usual place of work in Fort Simpson at the 2021 census, 1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 45 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Fort Simpson?
The 2021 census found 11% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Fort Simpson?
The census puts Fort Simpson at $113,900 for 2020, before tax and at the median, 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, 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).