Photo: Beems3 · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Manitouwadge are less likely to have a job than in 87% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Manitouwadge stood at 13% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The census counted 400 people working in Manitouwadge and 590 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Half the households in Manitouwadge had more than $70,600 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Manitouwadge
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 65% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 46% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 13% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 2.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $70,600 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs and income in Manitouwadge earn C−
Better than 18% 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.
Manitouwadge at work: 65% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thunder Bay census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 46%. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 53% of residents that age. 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.
Household income in Manitouwadge
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 65% of Canadian towns.
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Thunder Bay census division has a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Manitouwadge’s median is 23% below. 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).
A commuter town: Manitouwadge sends out more workers than it takes in
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 8 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 63% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
37% of Manitouwadge’s residents in work leave it to work; Marathon takes the most
- Marathon10
- Marathon75
- Thunder Bay, Unorganized60
- White River20
- Kenora, Unorganized20
- Thunder Bay15
- Geraldton10
Inbound, the leader is Marathon (10).
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 Manitouwadge work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 9% of Manitouwadge’s commuters
Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns, at 88%. Only 8.3% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
The trip to work from Manitouwadge runs about as long as the middle of Canadian towns: 24.3 minutes
An hour or more: 8.3% of commuters, close to the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 21.5 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 60%, more than the 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.
About as many people are on EI in the Thunder Bay census division as in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%. In April 2021 it reached 8,970, the most in the series and 2.6 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI.
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 Thunder Bay 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).
The walkability of Manitouwadge: B+
Better than 70% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Manitouwadge, side by side
Distances here run 60–110 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Manitouwadge.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitouwadge | 65% | 13% | $71K | 24.3 min | C− | B+ |
| Marathon 60.2 km | 68% | 8.2% | $94K | 20.1 min | B+ | A |
| Hornepayne 76.4 km | 67% | 8.2% | $104K | 10.8 min | A | A− |
| Terrace Bay 100 km | 67% | 9% | $87K | 12.9 min | B+ | A− |
| Geraldton 104.4 km | 67% | 8.7% | $73K | 18.4 min | C+ | A |
| Schreiber 110.2 km | 65% | 9.6% | $76K | 14 min | B− | B+ |
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 Manitouwadge, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Manitouwadge
Where do people in Manitouwadge work?
63% work in Manitouwadge itself; of those who leave, the most go to Marathon (75), then Thunder Bay, Unorganized (60).
How many jobs are there in Manitouwadge?
The 2021 census found about 400 people with their usual workplace in Manitouwadge, or 0.7 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 43 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Manitouwadge?
The census put unemployment at 13% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Northwest economic region at 2.9%.
What is the average household income in Manitouwadge?
The median household in Manitouwadge had $70,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Manitouwadge get to work?
88% of commuters drive, 9% walk; 8.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Manitouwadge?
The average commute is 24.3 minutes; 60% of trips take under 15 minutes and 8.3% an hour or more.
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).