Photo: OhanaUnited Talk page · CC BY-SA 4.0Kugluktuk ranks among the Canadian towns where the fewest working-age people have jobs
28% of the labour force in Kugluktuk was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Commutes from Kugluktuk average 8.8 minutes, and 0% take an hour or more. The median household in Kugluktuk had $85,000 before tax in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Kugluktuk apart
Fewer people in work than most towns
With 44% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 40% of all adults employed. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021, 28% of those working or looking had no job; the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 8.8 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.
Kugluktuk earns B for jobs and income
Better than 59% 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 Kugluktuk, 44% of the working-age population has a job
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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 Kugluktuk
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 6.3 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 92%, more than the 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 Kugluktuk to work as leave
The job is inside the municipality for 84% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
16% of Kugluktuk’s residents in work leave it to work; Cambridge Bay takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Gjoa Haven, with 15.
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 Kugluktuk
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 66% of Canadian towns.
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).
Without a car, 49% of Kugluktuk’s commuters get to work
The middle of Canadian towns has 3.4% walking; here, 46% do. 42% drive to work, fewer than the 89% in the middle of Canadian towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 4% against 21%. Transit takes 2.8% 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 Kitikmeot census division run 7% above their 2019 level
The highest month was July 2021: 350 people, 2.1 times the 2019 level. That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Kugluktuk alone, so this card uses the figure for the Kitikmeot census division.
The Walkability grade for Kugluktuk: A
Better than 90% 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 Kugluktuk, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Kugluktuk
How do people in Kugluktuk get to work?
By car: 42% of commuters, 2.8% take public transit and 46% walk; on census day 4% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Kugluktuk?
8.8 minutes is the average trip, with 92% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 0% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Kugluktuk work?
84% work in Kugluktuk itself; of those who leave, the most go to Cambridge Bay (20), then Coral Harbour (10).
How many jobs are there in Kugluktuk?
The 2021 census counted about 300 people working in Kugluktuk: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 18 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Kugluktuk?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 28%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What is the average household income in Kugluktuk?
The median household in Kugluktuk had $85,000 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, 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).