Photo: bgilliard from St. Catharines, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Forest trails that of 63% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Forest working or looking for work in May 2021, 9.6% were unemployed, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Forest takes 27.7 minutes on average, an hour or more for 12%. In 2020, a household at the middle of Forest had $80,100 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Where Forest stands out on work
Work near the middle
In work at the 2021 census: 73% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 47% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Unemployment was 9.6% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 7.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Forest earns C for jobs and income
Better than 31% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #536 of 866 in Ontario.
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 and out of Forest: the working day evens out
3,025 residents of Forest had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 2,910 people had theirs in Forest, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 50% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
50% of Forest’s residents in work leave it to work; Sarnia takes the most
- Plympton-Wyoming200
- Watford185
- Parkhill170
- Sarnia150
- Exeter130
- London110
- Strathroy80
- Bayfield75
- Kettle Point 4455
- Corunna45
- Sarnia295
- London260
- Exeter150
- Strathroy145
- Parkhill120
- Watford95
- Plympton-Wyoming55
- Adelaide-Metcalfe35
- Bayfield35
- Petrolia30
In the other direction the biggest source is Plympton-Wyoming, with 200.
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 Forest work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Forest at work: 73% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lambton census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
52% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 47%. In October 2026, 57% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
Earnings at home in Forest: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 56% of Canadian towns.
That puts Forest 13% below the median of Ontario’s towns, $91,600. 6 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Lambton census division have a higher median. 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 7.9% of Forest’s commuters
On foot: 7.6% of commuters, well above the 3.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 90% drive to work, more than the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Working at home: 20%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
The length of the trip to work in Forest
Timed exactly, the average is 25.6 minutes (Statistics Canada). A quarter-hour or less for 39% 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.
In the Lambton census division, 20% more people receive EI than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,680 people on EI, 2.9 times 2019’s average. That is about 4.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 8%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Lambton 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).
Walking in Forest earns B+
Better than 66% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #581 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Forest next to Canadian towns of 9,100 to 17,500: 419th of 601 on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 9 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 417 | Hamilton Road Ontario | 15,283 | 67% | 12% | $71K | C |
| 418 | Oakridge British Columbia | 14,071 | 68% | 10% | $90K | C |
| 419 | Lambton Shores Ontario | 12,962 | 73% | 9.6% | $80K | C |
| 420 | Davie Village British Columbia | 16,833 | 80% | 10% | $64K | C |
| 421 | Temple Alberta | 10,545 | 65% | 16% | $90K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 601 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Forest, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work next door to Forest
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | 73% | 9.6% | $80K | 27.7 min | C | B+ |
| Kettle Point 44 12.3 km | 45% | 19% | $54K | 24.6 min | D− | C |
| Parkhill 15.2 km | 84% | 6.7% | $89K | 29.3 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 Forest, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Forest as part of Lambton Shores, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Forest
Where do people in Forest work?
50% work in Forest itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sarnia (295), then London (260).
How many jobs are there in Forest?
The 2021 census found about 2,910 people with their usual workplace in Forest, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 442 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Forest?
At the 2021 census 9.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Windsor-Sarnia economic region, gives 7.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Forest?
At $80,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Forest compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Forest get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 7.6% walk and 0.3% cycle; 20% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Forest?
The average commute is 27.7 minutes; 39% of trips take under 15 minutes and 12% an hour or more.
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).