Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0More of Emo’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 86% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Emo had more than $92,500 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. In May 2021, unemployment in Emo reached 7.5%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. From Emo, the drive or ride to work averages 24.6 minutes, with 5.7% going an hour or longer.
What Emo’s work numbers say
More people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 83% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 63% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 475 jobs based in Emo and 415 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
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, Emo grades A
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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 Emo, 83% of the working-age population has a job
Counting those looking for work too, 68% of people aged 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 63%. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 59% of the wider area’s adults in work. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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 a working day Emo gains 12% in workers
415 residents of Emo had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 475 people had theirs in Emo, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 40% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
308 people come into Emo to work, most from Chapple and La Vallee
- Chapple100
- La Vallee55
- Fort Frances50
- Rainy River, Unorganized30
- Alberton15
- Morley15
- Dawson10
- Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls10
- Winnipeg10
- Fort Frances110
- Chapple80
- Rainy River20
- Morley15
- La Vallee10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Emo work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Emo’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 78% of Canadian towns.
Emo’s median is 1% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 6.6% of Emo’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 2.8% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Time on the road to work from Emo
Timed exactly, the average is 23 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 46% 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
12% fewer people are on EI in the Rainy River census division than in 2019
Roughly 4.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 4%. August 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,130 people on EI, 2 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Not measured by town: EI beneficiaries (the Rainy River 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).
How walkable Emo is: C+
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Emo, side by side
The nearest places to Emo with figures are 31–143 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emo | 83% | 7.5% | $93K | 24.6 min | A | C+ |
| Fort Frances 31.1 km | 74% | 8.1% | $78K | 18.1 min | B+ | A− |
| Rainy River, Unorganized 51.7 km | 69% | 8.6% | $98K | 29.6 min | C | C− |
| Machin 135.7 km | 62% | 14% | $73K | 27.8 min | D | C+ |
| Kenora 136.5 km | 76% | 7.2% | $86K | 15.2 min | A | B |
| Kenora, Unorganized 142.8 km | 74% | 9.4% | $87K | 23.5 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 Emo, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- 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. 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.
Questions about work in Emo
How many jobs are there in Emo?
The 2021 census found about 475 people with their usual workplace in Emo, or 1.1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 75 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Emo?
The census put unemployment at 7.5% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Northwest economic region at 2.9%.
What is the average household income in Emo?
The census puts Emo at $92,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Emo get to work?
92% of commuters drive, 2.8% take public transit and 3.8% walk; 13% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Emo?
The average commute is 24.6 minutes; 46% of trips take under 15 minutes and 5.7% an hour or more.
Where do people in Emo work?
40% work in Emo itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Fort Frances (110), then Chapple (80).
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).