Photo: Jason F. Voll · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Fairfield
Commutes from Fairfield average 22.3 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. On census day, 30% of workers here were at home, next to 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. In 2020, a household at the middle of Fairfield had $73,300 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
What sets Fairfield apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 74% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 53%. In work ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.3 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. Getting to work ↓
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, Fairfield grades B−
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #336 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
Fairfield gets to work without a car for 5.9% of commuters
Transit takes 3.4% of commuters, close to the middle of Canadian towns. 90% drive to work, more than 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.
74% of working-age people in Fairfield have jobs
Of the 42 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Waterloo census division, 27 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 53%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 65% in October 2026. Working or looking, 58% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Earnings at home in Fairfield: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Fairfield sits 20% below. Of the 42 other places of 2,500 or more in the Waterloo census division, 32 have a higher median. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
In the Waterloo census division, 47% more people receive EI than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. The count topped out in April 2021 at 28,950 people, 3 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Fairfield alone, so this card uses the figure for the Waterloo census division.
The walkability of Fairfield: A−
Better than 77% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #518 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Fairfield ranks: 404th of 757 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 402 | Inch Park Ontario | 4,065 | 75% | 11% | $89K | B− |
| 403 | Country Hills Alberta | 3,702 | 72% | 12% | $99K | B− |
| 404 | Fairfield Ontario | 3,497 | 74% | 9.4% | $73K | B− |
| 405 | Dégelis Quebec | 2,943 | 78% | 7.9% | $56K | B− |
| 406 | Brooklands Manitoba | 3,114 | 69% | 10% | $77K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 757 | 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 Fairfield, and others among Ontario’s towns.
How the places next to Fairfield compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | 74% | 9.4% | $73K | 22.3 min | B− | A− |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park 0.4 km | 74% | 10% | $75K | 23.7 min | C+ | A+ |
| Central Frederick 1.3 km | 76% | 12% | $71K | 22.3 min | B− | A+ |
| Bridgeport East 1.3 km | 72% | 11% | $88K | 21.2 min | B+ | A− |
| City Commercial Core 1.6 km | 78% | 8.6% | $68K | 22.6 min | B− | A+ |
| Cherry Hill 2 km | 70% | 11% | $67K | 23.8 min | C− | A+ |
| Auditorium 2.1 km | 73% | 11% | $83K | 22.9 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 Fairfield, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Fairfield’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Kitchener’s page.
Questions about work in Fairfield
How do people in Fairfield get to work?
By car: 90% of commuters, 3.4% take public transit, 1.7% walk and 0.8% cycle; on census day 30% of those in work worked from home.
How many jobs are there in Fairfield?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Kitchener has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Fairfield?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo metro area at 7.1%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.4%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Fairfield?
The median household in Fairfield had $73,300 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).