Photo: Duckdave · CC BY-SA 4.0Barrie has higher household incomes than 79% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 13% of Barrie’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. For 15% of commuters in Barrie, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 30 minutes. Of Barrie’s residents aged 15 to 64, 70% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Barrie and work: the main findings
Work near the middle
Counting everyone 15 and over, 58% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 70%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 15% 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.
Jobs & income in Barrie: graded C
Better than 32% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #515 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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.
A longer commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 30 minutes from Barrie
Timed exactly, the average is 27.4 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 35% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’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.
As many come into Barrie to work as leave
The job is inside the municipality for 62% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
38% of Barrie’s residents in work leave it to work; Toronto takes the most
- Springwater2,765
- Innisfil2,750
- Oro-Medonte2,295
- Angus1,695
- Orillia980
- Wasaga Beach550
- Severn475
- Stayner445
- Midland395
- Alliston390
- Toronto2,460
- Alliston2,310
- Vaughan1,515
- Innisfil1,230
- Orillia1,035
- Angus1,030
- Newmarket910
- Oro-Medonte740
- Bradford725
- Mississauga705
Coming the other way, Springwater sends the most (2,765).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Barrie: 70%
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Simcoe census division, 7 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
A more recent figure, for the wider area: 62% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 66% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 58% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
What households earned in Barrie: $93,100 in 2020
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Barrie’s median is 2% above. Of the 17 other places of 2,500 or more in the Simcoe census division, 9 have a higher median. 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).
7.4% of commuters from Barrie go without a car
Transit takes 3.7% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 91% of commuters. 21% worked at home on census day, about the same as 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).
EI claims in the Simcoe census division run 38% above their 2019 level
At its peak, in February 2021, 31,440 people were on EI, 3.2 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 5%.
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). Barrie shares its EI beneficiaries numbers with the rest of the Simcoe census division.
Walking in Barrie earns A−
Better than 82% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #479 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Barrie is 20th of 26 Canadian towns of 122,100 to 235,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| 4 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 71% | 11% | $126K | C+ |
| 19 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 71% | 12% | $123K | C+ |
| 20 | Barrie Ontario | 174,469 | 70% | 13% | $93K | C |
| 21 | Brantford Ontario | 123,521 | 69% | 12% | $79K | C |
| 22 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 69% | 13% | $119K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 26 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 64% | 15% | $86K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Barrie, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Barrie and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrie | 70% | 13% | $93K | 30 min | C | A− |
| Innisfil 12.5 km | 72% | 12% | $101K | 40.3 min | C | C+ |
| Angus 14.9 km | 73% | 11% | $108K | 31.6 min | C+ | C |
| Springwater 14.9 km | 77% | 10% | $122K | 31 min | B | 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 Barrie, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Barrie
What is the average household income in Barrie?
At $93,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Barrie compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Barrie get to work?
91% of commuters go by car, 3.7% take public transit, 3.2% walk and 0.5% cycle. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Barrie?
On average 30 minutes; 35% take under 15 minutes and 15% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Barrie work?
Most stay: 62% work in Barrie. The rest go first to Toronto (2,460) and Alliston (2,310).
How many jobs are there in Barrie?
About 44,630 people had their usual place of work in Barrie at the 2021 census, 1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 4,904 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Barrie?
The census put unemployment at 13% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Barrie metro area at 6.5%.
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).