Photo: WabbitWanderer from London, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Little Current has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 63% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Little Current reached 10%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Before tax, the typical household in Little Current brought in $76,100 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Little Current spend 25 minutes on the way to work on average, and 13% need an hour or more.
The work figures that set Little Current apart
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 78% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 50%. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 785 jobs based in Little Current and 760 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Little Current grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #286 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
About as many people come in to work in Little Current as leave
760 residents of Little Current had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 785 people had theirs in Little Current, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 65% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
288 people come into Little Current to work, most from Assiginack and Espanola
- Assiginack75
- Espanola50
- Central Manitoulin30
- Billings25
- Sucker Creek 2325
- Whitefish River 410
- Sheguiandah 2410
- Wikwemikong Unceded10
- M'Chigeeng 2210
- Sables-Spanish Rivers10
- Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury55
- Central Manitoulin40
- Wikwemikong Unceded30
- Assiginack25
- Northern Bruce Peninsula20
- Espanola20
- M'Chigeeng 2215
- Sables-Spanish Rivers15
- Tehkummah10
- Geraldton10
37% of the people who work in Little Current live outside it, 75 of them in Assiginack, 26 km away. The main destination the other way is Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury, with 55.
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 Little Current work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How many in Little Current have a job: 78% of 15-to-64s
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 56% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 55% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Counting retirees, 50% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
What households in Little Current earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Little Current’s median is 17% below. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 7.9% of commuters in Little Current
By car, truck or van: 90% of commuters, against 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 16% against 21%. 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
The trip to work from Little Current runs about as long as the middle of Canadian towns: 25 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 23.5 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 52% 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.
People on EI in the Manitoulin census division, month by month since 2019
That is about 4.4 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 21%. The highest month was March 2021: 940 people, 2.1 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 Manitoulin 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).
How walkable Little Current is: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #531 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
234th of 497: where Little Current ranks among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Adelaide-Metcalfe Ontario | 3,196 | 86% | 5.9% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Enniskillen Ontario | 3,174 | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 232 | Yamachiche Quebec | 2,801 | 77% | 7% | $68K | B− |
| 233 | Opportunity No. 17 Alberta | 3,592 | 58% | 18% | $89K | B− |
| 234 | Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands Ontario | 2,764 | 78% | 10% | $76K | B− |
| 235 | Meadowlark Park Alberta | 2,671 | 70% | 12% | $92K | B− |
| 236 | Melancthon Ontario | 3,581 | 78% | 7.8% | $100K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Little Current, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Little Current and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Little Current with figures are 25–27 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Current | 78% | 10% | $76K | 25 min | B− | A− |
| Sables-Spanish Rivers 24.7 km | 62% | 11% | $71K | 31.8 min | D− | C+ |
| Wikwemikong Unceded 25.6 km | 47% | 14% | $49K | 13.7 min | C− | B+ |
| Assiginack 26.2 km | 75% | 5.3% | $72K | 26.4 min | C | C+ |
| Sagamok 26.6 km | 43% | 13% | $53K | 22.5 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 Little Current, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Little Current as part of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Little Current
What is the average household income in Little Current?
Before tax, half the households in Little Current had more than $76,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Little Current get to work?
By car: 90% of commuters, 7.9% walk; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Little Current?
25 minutes is the average trip, with 52% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 13% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Little Current work?
Most stay: 65% work in Little Current. The rest go first to Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury (55) and Central Manitoulin (40).
How many jobs are there in Little Current?
The 2021 census counted about 785 people working in Little Current: 1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 118 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Little Current?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Northeast economic region at 6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 10%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).