Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Chisholm works elsewhere: the town has 0.1 jobs for each resident in work
Commutes from Chisholm average 31.8 minutes, and 3.4% take an hour or more. Chisholm had an unemployment rate of 15% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Before tax, the typical household in Chisholm brought in $78,800 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
The work numbers behind Chisholm
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 15% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.4% 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.
On jobs and income, Chisholm grades D
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In Chisholm, 69% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nipissing census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 56% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 58% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 50%. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
Commuting times in Chisholm
Timed exactly, the average is 29.9 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 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.
Chisholm is quieter on a working day than at night
About 14 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 6.7% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
93% of Chisholm’s residents in work leave it to work; North Bay takes the most
Coming the other way, Pembroke sends the most (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 Chisholm: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
One of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Nipissing census division has a higher median. Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Chisholm sits 14% below. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Chisholm gets to work without a car for 4.5% of commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 17%, 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Nipissing census division as in 2019
That is about 4.5 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 4%. In February 2021 it reached 5,550, the most in the series and 2.4 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Chisholm alone, so this card uses the figure for the Nipissing census division.
Walking in Chisholm earns C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Chisholm: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chisholm | 69% | 15% | $79K | 31.8 min | D | C− |
| Powassan 13.3 km | 73% | 10% | $81K | 26.2 min | C+ | C+ |
| Callander 16.4 km | 74% | 7.8% | $100K | 21.5 min | A− | C− |
| Bonfield 16.6 km | 64% | 7.3% | $78K | 30.7 min | D | C− |
| East Ferris 17.7 km | 73% | 9.3% | $109K | 24.6 min | B+ | D |
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 Chisholm, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Chisholm
What is the unemployment rate in Chisholm?
At the 2021 census 15% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Northeast economic region, gives 6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Chisholm?
Chisholm’s middle household had $78,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Chisholm get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 4.5% walk; 17% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Chisholm?
The average commute is 31.8 minutes; 15% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Chisholm work?
Only 6.7% work in Chisholm itself; the rest go first to North Bay (210) and East Ferris (30).
How many jobs are there in Chisholm?
The 2021 census found about 45 people with their usual workplace in Chisholm, or 0.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 21 businesses with employees in June 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).