Photo: P199 · Public domainChalk River has 0.2 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
The median household in Chalk River had $93,500 before tax in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. 5.5% of the labour force in Chalk River was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. From Chalk River, the drive or ride to work averages 22.4 minutes, with 3.2% going an hour or longer.
Chalk River and work: the main findings
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 5.5% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6.8% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.2% 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.
Jobs and income in Chalk River earn B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #211 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.
71% of working-age people in Chalk River have jobs
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Renfrew census division, 8 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 55% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 55% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 59%. 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.
Time on the road to work from Chalk River
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 34%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 19.7 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.
More of Chalk River’s workers leave each day than arrive
For every person who comes in to work, about 7 residents travel out. The job is inside the municipality for 8.7% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Chalk River’s residents in work leave it to work; Deep River takes the most
Petawawa sends the largest group the other way, 55 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Chalk River’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 79% of Canadian towns.
Of the 15 other places of 2,500 or more in the Renfrew census division, 4 have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Chalk River is 2% above it. 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).
Without a car, 0.9% of Chalk River’s commuters get to work
Only 15% 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%. The car is the way to work for 98% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Renfrew census division run 13% above their 2019 level
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. The highest month was April 2021: 5,690 people, 2.4 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). Behind EI beneficiaries sits data gathered across the Renfrew census division, with Chalk River one part of it.
Chalk River grades C− for walkability
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #800 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Chalk River is 243rd among 639 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Merivale Gardens - Grenfell Glen - Pineglen - Country Place Ontario | 4,172 | 79% | 7.6% | $141K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 241 | Sainte-Croix Quebec | 2,612 | 86% | 5.4% | $63K | B |
| 242 | Killarney - Turtle Mountain Manitoba | 3,708 | 74% | 8.1% | $72K | B |
| 243 | Laurentian Hills Ontario | 3,147 | 71% | 5.5% | $94K | B |
| 244 | Grimshaw Alberta | 2,799 | 73% | 12% | $87K | B |
| 245 | Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part Ontario | 2,770 | 65% | 11% | $98K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Chalk River, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Chalk River compare on work
The nearest places to Chalk River with figures are 8–37 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalk River | 71% | 5.5% | $94K | 22.4 min | B | C− |
| Deep River 7.7 km | 70% | 6.6% | $95K | 22.4 min | B | A+ |
| Petawawa 22.5 km | 71% | 6.3% | $102K | 16.5 min | A | B− |
| Laurentian Valley 35 km | 73% | 9.1% | $94K | 22.4 min | B+ | C− |
| L'Isle-aux-Allumettes 36.5 km | 74% | 5.5% | $69K | 31.9 min | D | D |
| Pembroke 36.7 km | 63% | 12% | $63K | 18.9 min | C− | A |
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 Chalk River, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Chalk River as part of Laurentian Hills, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Chalk River
What is the average household income in Chalk River?
Chalk River’s middle household had $93,500 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Chalk River get to work?
98% of commuters drive, 0.9% walk; 15% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Chalk River?
The average commute is 22.4 minutes; 34% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Chalk River work?
8.7% work in Chalk River itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Deep River (515), then Petawawa (230).
How many jobs are there in Chalk River?
The 2021 census found about 205 people with their usual workplace in Chalk River, or 0.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 32 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Chalk River?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 5.5% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Kingston-Pembroke economic region at 6.8% in October 2026.
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).