Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Fessenden than in 74% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 12% of Fessenden’s labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Median household income in Fessenden was $87,800 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. On average, people in Fessenden spend 26.3 minutes getting to work, next to 26 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Fessenden: the figures worth knowing
Work near the middle
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 70% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 50%. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
Unemployment was 12% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 7.6% 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.
On jobs and income, Fessenden grades C+
Better than 38% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #448 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.
70% of working-age people in Fessenden have jobs
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Hamilton census division, 64 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 50% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. Counting those looking for work too, 56% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
Household income in Fessenden
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 71% of Canadian towns.
Of the 105 other places of 2,500 or more in the Hamilton census division, 54 have a higher median. Fessenden’s median is 4% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
7.8% of commuters from Fessenden go without a car
Working at home: 25% here, 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 6.8%, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car takes 85% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s 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.
38% more people are on EI in the Hamilton census division than in 2019
That is about 4.1 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. The highest month was January 2021: 30,560 people, 3.3 times the 2019 level.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Hamilton 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).
Walkability in Fessenden: graded A
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #421 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Fessenden is 496th of 778 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,800 people for jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 494 | Pasadena Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,930 | 67% | 15% | $83K | C+ |
| 495 | Piedmont Quebec | 3,667 | 78% | 12% | $78K | C+ |
| 496 | Fessenden Ontario | 3,551 | 70% | 12% | $88K | C+ |
| 497 | Portneuf Quebec | 3,410 | 78% | 6.8% | $64K | C+ |
| 498 | Kernohan Alberta | 3,020 | 67% | 14% | $98K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 778 | 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 Fessenden, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The places around Fessenden, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fessenden | 70% | 12% | $88K | 26.3 min | C+ | A |
| Mountview 0.8 km | 69% | 12% | $91K | 26.2 min | C+ | A− |
| Gurnett 0.9 km | 69% | 12% | $108K | 28.5 min | C+ | A− |
| Gilbert 0.9 km | 60% | 17% | $88K | 26.3 min | C | A |
| Gilkson 1.2 km | 71% | 13% | $96K | 27.9 min | C+ | A− |
| Westcliffe East 1.3 km | 75% | 12% | $109K | 24.8 min | B+ | A− |
| Falkirk East 1.9 km | 74% | 12% | $123K | 26.9 min | B | 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 Fessenden, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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.
- 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. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
- Neighbourhood figures. Commuting flows and Statistics Canada’s timed averages stop at the municipality, so Hamilton’s page carries them; Fessenden’s own figures sum its dissemination areas.
Questions about work in Fessenden
What is the unemployment rate in Fessenden?
At the 2021 census 12% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Hamilton metro area, gives 7.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Fessenden?
Fessenden’s middle household had $87,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Fessenden get to work?
Driving takes 85% of commuters to work, 6.8% take public transit and 1% walk, and on census day 25% of those in work were at home.
How many jobs are there in Fessenden?
The census places jobs by municipality, so the answer is in Hamilton’s figures, with the flows of its commuters.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).