Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Collingwood’s household incomes are higher than in 60% of Canadian towns
13% of the labour force in Collingwood was out of work at the 2021 census, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. For 8.4% of commuters in Collingwood, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 21.6 minutes. At the 2021 census, Collingwood sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job.
What Collingwood’s work numbers say
A local job centre
7,965 people work in Collingwood and 6,400 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.6 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.4% 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.
Collingwood grades B for jobs and income
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #230 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
A working day adds 18% to the people at work in Collingwood
About 2 people arrive to work in Collingwood for each resident who goes out. 66% 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.
Commuting times in Collingwood
Timed exactly, the average is 20.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 55% 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.
3,760 people come into Collingwood to work, most from Wasaga Beach and Stayner
- Wasaga Beach1,250
- Stayner1,080
- Thornbury360
- Meaford235
- Grey Highlands195
- Barrie110
- Springwater70
- Angus50
- Durham25
- Severn25
- Thornbury615
- Stayner265
- Barrie205
- Wasaga Beach160
- Toronto105
- Innisfil80
- Alliston65
- Mississauga60
- Meaford55
- Springwater50
Of everyone working in Collingwood, 47% come in from elsewhere; 1,250 make the 14 km trip from Wasaga Beach. Going the other way, Thornbury is the biggest single destination (615).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Collingwood
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Simcoe census division, 10 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 49% were working. In October 2026, 64% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 56% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. 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.
The median household in Collingwood had $81,900 in 2020
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 or more in the Simcoe census division, 13 have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Collingwood is 11% below it. 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).
Without a car, 11% of Collingwood’s commuters get to work
87% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 24% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 7.5% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
38% more people are on EI in the Simcoe census division than in 2019
Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.4 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 5%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 31,440 people on EI, 3.2 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Simcoe census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Getting around Collingwood on foot earns A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #469 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Collingwood places 96th of 302 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 19,900 to 38,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 3 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 4 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Wilmot Ontario | 22,890 | 81% | 6.8% | $115K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Middlesex Centre Ontario | 21,689 | 79% | 7.7% | $125K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 94 | Boisbriand Quebec | 29,830 | 78% | 7% | $87K | B |
| 95 | Auteuil Quebec | 27,843 | 78% | 6.8% | $108K | B |
| 96 | Collingwood Ontario | 28,366 | 73% | 13% | $82K | B |
| 97 | Centretown Ontario | 32,035 | 77% | 10% | $73K | B |
| 98 | Côte-Saint-Antoine Quebec | 20,415 | 78% | 8.8% | $89K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 302 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Collingwood, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How Collingwood compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collingwood | 73% | 13% | $82K | 21.6 min | B | A− |
| Stayner 13.1 km | 78% | 9.4% | $97K | 30.2 min | B | B− |
| Wasaga Beach 14.3 km | 66% | 14% | $76K | 31.5 min | D | B− |
| Thornbury 17.4 km | 76% | 11% | $101K | 25.7 min | B+ | B+ |
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 Collingwood, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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. 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. 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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 Collingwood
How do people in Collingwood get to work?
87% of commuters drive, 1.3% take public transit, 7.5% walk and 2.1% cycle; 24% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Collingwood?
The average commute is 21.6 minutes; 55% of trips take under 15 minutes and 8.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Collingwood work?
Most stay: 66% work in Collingwood. The rest go first to Thornbury (615) and Stayner (265).
How many jobs are there in Collingwood?
The 2021 census found about 7,965 people with their usual workplace in Collingwood, or 1.2 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 1,222 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Collingwood?
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 Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region at 6.5%.
What is the average household income in Collingwood?
Collingwood’s middle household had $81,900 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).