Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Mattawa have lower incomes than those in 96% of Canadian towns
The census counted 760 people working in Mattawa and 445 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. 53% of people aged 15 to 64 in Mattawa had a job at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Of everyone in Mattawa working or looking for work in May 2021, 17% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Where Mattawa stands out on work
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 53% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 37%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 17% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $54,100 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 760 jobs based in Mattawa and 445 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 17.1 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.6% last an hour or longer. 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.
Mattawa earns C− for jobs and income
Better than 16% 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.
In and out of work in Mattawa
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nipissing census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 37%: many residents are past working age. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 56% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 45% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Mattawa households: $54,100 a year at the median
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Nipissing census division has a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and Mattawa is 41% below it. Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for 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).
Every working day, Mattawa’s workforce grows by 67%
Mattawa takes in some 4 workers for every resident it sends out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Mattawa has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 17.1 minutes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 72% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 4.6% take an hour or more, against 7.9%. Timed exactly, the average is 18 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
437 people come into Mattawa to work, most from Papineau-Cameron and Calvin
- Papineau-Cameron175
- Calvin60
- North Bay55
- East Ferris30
- Bonfield20
- Mattawan15
- Chisholm15
- Perry15
- Sturgeon Falls10
- Nipissing, Unorganized, South Part10
- North Bay65
- Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part15
- Toronto10
- Calvin10
58% of the people who work in Mattawa live outside it, 175 of them in Papineau-Cameron, 4 km away. North Bay is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 65 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 18% of Mattawa’s commuters
By bus, train or subway: 2.8%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 15% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 75% against 88%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 4.3% against 21%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Nipissing census division are back near their 2019 level
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 4%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 5,550 people on EI, 2.4 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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 Mattawa alone, so this card uses the figure for the Nipissing census division.
Mattawa on foot: a A+ grade
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Mattawa
The nearest places to Mattawa with figures are 4–45 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattawa | 53% | 17% | $54K | 17.1 min | C− | A+ |
| Papineau-Cameron 4.3 km | 69% | 13% | $72K | 27.6 min | C− | D− |
| Bonfield 33.9 km | 64% | 7.3% | $78K | 30.7 min | D | C− |
| East Ferris 43.3 km | 73% | 9.3% | $109K | 24.6 min | B+ | D |
| Chisholm 45.2 km | 69% | 15% | $79K | 31.8 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 Mattawa, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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 Mattawa
What is the unemployment rate in Mattawa?
Two figures answer it: 17% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6% for the Northeast economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Mattawa?
At $54,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Mattawa compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Mattawa get to work?
75% of commuters drive, 2.8% take public transit and 15% walk; 4.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Mattawa?
The average commute is 17.1 minutes; 72% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.6% an hour or more.
Where do people in Mattawa work?
73% work in Mattawa itself; of those who leave, the most go to North Bay (65), then Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part (15).
How many jobs are there in Mattawa?
The 2021 census found about 760 people with their usual workplace in Mattawa, or 1.7 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 78 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).