Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.4 jobs for each resident in work, most of Callander commutes out
When the 2021 census was taken, 7.8% of people in Callander who wanted a job had none, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. The median household in Callander had $100,300 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. In Callander, 74% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Callander
Higher incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $100,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 21.5 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2% 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.
On jobs and income, Callander grades A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #66 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Earnings at home in Callander: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 86% of Canadian towns.
Callander’s median is 9% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Parry Sound census division has a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
At 21.5 minutes, commutes from Callander are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 29%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 2% of commuters, under the 7.9% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19 minutes.
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.
The daily tide in Callander runs outward
It sends out some 4 workers for every one it takes in. 16% 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.
84% of Callander’s residents in work leave it to work; North Bay takes the most
North Bay sends the largest group the other way, 120 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Who in Callander has a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Parry Sound census division, 5 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 59% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 55% were working. 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.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 2% of Callander’s commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% of commuters. Home was the workplace for 19%, under the 21% 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 Parry Sound census division are back near their 2019 level
That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%. In February 2021 it reached 3,090, the most in the series and 2.1 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Parry Sound census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Callander on foot: a C− grade
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #802 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Callander next to Canadian towns of 2,800 to 5,400: 125th of 766 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 123 | Sainte-Marie-Madeleine Quebec | 2,940 | 88% | 3.2% | $86K | A− |
| 124 | Dunham Quebec | 3,632 | 87% | 4.4% | $77K | A− |
| 125 | Callander Ontario | 4,021 | 74% | 7.8% | $100K | A− |
| 126 | Jamieson Place Alberta | 3,813 | 78% | 10% | $122K | A− |
| 127 | Ritchie Alberta | 5,215 | 77% | 10% | $86K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 766 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 58% | 14% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Callander, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Callander, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callander | 74% | 7.8% | $100K | 21.5 min | A− | C− |
| East Ferris 8.4 km | 73% | 9.3% | $109K | 24.6 min | B+ | D |
| North Bay 14 km | 67% | 12% | $72K | 16.5 min | C+ | A |
| Powassan 15.7 km | 73% | 10% | $81K | 26.2 min | C+ | C+ |
| Nipissing 16.4 km | 67% | 14% | $82K | 31.3 min | C− | D |
| Chisholm 16.4 km | 69% | 15% | $79K | 31.8 min | D | C− |
| Bonfield 17 km | 64% | 7.3% | $78K | 30.7 min | D | 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 Callander, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured 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. 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.
- 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. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Callander
Where do people in Callander work?
16% work in Callander itself. Of those who leave, the most go to North Bay (880), then Powassan (35).
How many jobs are there in Callander?
Statistics Canada counted 111 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Callander?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Northeast economic region at 6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 7.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Callander?
The census puts Callander at $100,300 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Callander get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, 2% walk, and on census day 19% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Callander?
About 21.5 minutes on average, with 29% under a quarter-hour and 2% at an hour or longer.
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).