Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer of Ignace’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 89% of Canadian towns
Median household income in Ignace was $69,000 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Ignace takes 20.9 minutes on average, an hour or more for 18%. When the 2021 census was taken, 13% of people in Ignace who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Ignace
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 63% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 45%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
13% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 2.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $69,000 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
315 people work in Ignace and 290 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 20.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 18% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Ignace: C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
The share of 15-to-64s in work in Ignace: 63%
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Kenora census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 45% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 59% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 51% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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 Ignace: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 69% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Ignace sits 25% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Kenora census division has a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Ignace fills up on a working day: 7% more workers
Each resident commuting out of Ignace is matched by about 2 coming in. Of those who commute, 88% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Ignace
Trips under 15 minutes: 75%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 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.
61 people come into Ignace to work, most from Thunder Bay and Machin
Of everyone working in Ignace, 19% come in from elsewhere; 15 make the 207 km trip from Thunder Bay. Outbound, Kenora, Unorganized takes the most: 10 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walking, cycling or transit: 12% of Ignace’s commuters
The car takes 78% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
11% fewer people are on EI in the Kenora census division than in 2019
That is about 3.8 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. At its peak, in August 2021, 3,210 people were on EI, 1.8 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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Kenora census division, Ignace included.
Walkability in Ignace: graded B+
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How the places next to Ignace compare on work
The nearest places to Ignace with figures are 73–116 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ignace | 63% | 13% | $69K | 20.9 min | C− | B+ |
| Atikokan 72.9 km | 65% | 7.6% | $68K | 18.1 min | C | B+ |
| Sioux Lookout 78.5 km | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | 13 min | A+ | A− |
| Lac Seul 28 92.4 km | 49% | 12% | $46K | 20.6 min | D | B− |
| Dryden 93.4 km | 72% | 8.3% | $82K | 15.2 min | B+ | A− |
| Machin 116.3 km | 62% | 14% | $73K | 27.8 min | D | C+ |
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 Ignace, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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 Ignace
Where do people in Ignace work?
88% work in Ignace itself; of those who leave, the most go to Kenora, Unorganized (10).
How many jobs are there in Ignace?
Some 315 people worked in Ignace at the 2021 census: 1.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 47 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Ignace?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Northwest economic region at 2.9%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 13%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Ignace?
The census puts Ignace at $69,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Ignace get to work?
Driving takes 78% of commuters to work, 12% walk, and on census day 13% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Ignace?
About 20.9 minutes on average, with 75% under a quarter-hour and 18% at an hour or longer.
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).