Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Lindsay are less likely to have a job than in 72% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 11% of people in Lindsay who wanted a job had none, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Most commutes from Lindsay take well under an hour: the average is 34.3 minutes, and 19% take 60 minutes or longer. Before tax, the typical household in Lindsay brought in $81,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Lindsay and work: the main findings
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 49%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 34.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 19% 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.
Lindsay grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 15% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #691 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.
How long the commute from Lindsay takes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 28%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 32.7 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.
More of Lindsay’s workers leave each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 3 residents going out. Of those who commute, 54% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
46% of Lindsay’s residents in work leave it to work; Peterborough takes the most
- Peterborough600
- Trent Lakes320
- Bridgenorth220
- Beaverton200
- Bowmanville195
- Millbrook165
- Oshawa165
- Port Perry110
- Toronto100
- Otonabee-South Monaghan65
- Peterborough1,700
- Toronto855
- Port Perry695
- Bowmanville610
- Oshawa555
- Beaverton545
- Whitby510
- Pickering485
- Uxbridge275
- Millbrook225
Coming the other way, Peterborough sends the most (600).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Lindsay, 70% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 53% in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 55%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 49% of residents 15 and over were in work. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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 Lindsay
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 60% of Canadian towns.
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).
Lindsay gets to work without a car for 3.9% of commuters
Transit takes 0.6% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
22% more people are on EI in the Kawartha Lakes census division than in 2019
At its peak, in February 2021, 4,630 people were on EI, 2.9 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Kawartha Lakes 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).
Lindsay grades C+ for walkability
Better than 45% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #703 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Canadian towns of 59,700 to 115,200, and where Lindsay sits
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Grande Prairie Alberta | 71,160 | 73% | 12% | $103K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Halton Hills Ontario | 68,265 | 76% | 9.7% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Sault Ste. Marie Ontario | 81,182 | 66% | 13% | $73K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Saint-Jérôme Quebec | 85,160 | 75% | 7.1% | $63K | C− |
| 45 | Cape Breton Nova Scotia | 106,752 | 59% | 20% | $63K | C− |
| 46 | Kawartha Lakes Ontario | 85,351 | 70% | 11% | $82K | C− |
| 47 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Lindsay, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Lindsay, compared
Distances here run 27–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Lindsay.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lindsay | 70% | 11% | $82K | 34.3 min | C− | C+ |
| Trent Lakes 27.3 km | 67% | 9.6% | $84K | 37.2 min | D | C− |
| Bridgenorth 28.7 km | 75% | 11% | $96K | 28.3 min | B− | C+ |
| Curve Lake First Nation 35 29.4 km | 49% | 21% | $51K | 29.4 min | D− | 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 Lindsay, 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Lindsay as part of Kawartha Lakes, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Lindsay
What is the unemployment rate in Lindsay?
The 2021 census found 11% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Muskoka-Kawarthas economic region, is 5.1% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Lindsay?
At $81,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Lindsay compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Lindsay get to work?
Driving takes 94% of commuters to work, 0.6% take public transit, 3% walk and 0.3% cycle, and on census day 19% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Lindsay?
About 34.3 minutes on average, with 28% under a quarter-hour and 19% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Lindsay work?
Most stay: 54% work in Lindsay. The rest go first to Peterborough (1,700) and Toronto (855).
How many jobs are there in Lindsay?
Some 13,825 people worked in Lindsay at the 2021 census: 0.7 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 2,145 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).