Photo: Ansgar Walk · CC BY-SA 2.5The share of 15-to-64s in work puts Cape Dorset near the very bottom of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 21% of people in Cape Dorset who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. The average trip to work from Cape Dorset is 9.6 minutes; 0% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Half the households in Cape Dorset had more than $88,300 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Cape Dorset apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 43% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 41% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
The census counted 21% unemployed in 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 9.6 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 0% last an hour or longer. 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 Cape Dorset: graded B
Better than 63% 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.
In Cape Dorset, 43% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Counting those looking for work too, 51% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
A smaller share in work than in almost any Canadian town.
Time on the road to work from Cape Dorset
Timed exactly, the average is 7.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). A quarter-hour or less for 85% of commuters, against 36% in the middle of Canadian 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.
As many come into Cape Dorset to work as leave
Each person commuting in is matched by about 3 residents going out. 94% 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.
5.7% of Cape Dorset’s residents in work leave it to work; Sanikiluaq takes the most
- Iqaluit10
Inbound, the leader is Iqaluit (10).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Cape Dorset: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 72% of Canadian towns.
Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 55% of Cape Dorset’s commuters
More people walk to work here than in the middle of Canadian towns: 52% against 3.4%. 42% drive to work, fewer than the 89% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 3.1% of commuters, close to 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 the Qikiqtaaluk census division run 5% above their 2019 level
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.2 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 18%. In August 2021 it reached 750, the most in the series and 2 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Qikiqtaaluk census division, with Cape Dorset one part of it.
Cape Dorset grades A for walkability
Better than 86% 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 Cape Dorset, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Cape Dorset
How do people in Cape Dorset get to work?
42% of commuters drive, 3.1% take public transit and 52% walk; 8.5% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Cape Dorset?
The average commute is 9.6 minutes; 85% of trips take under 15 minutes and 0% an hour or more.
Where do people in Cape Dorset work?
Most stay: 94% work in Cape Dorset. The rest go first to Sanikiluaq (10) and Iqaluit (10).
How many jobs are there in Cape Dorset?
The 2021 census found about 255 people with their usual workplace in Cape Dorset, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 11 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Cape Dorset?
The 2021 census found 21% of those working or looking without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Cape Dorset?
The census puts Cape Dorset at $88,300 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).