Photo: P199 · Public domainNipissing has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.1 for each
The 2021 census found 67% of working-age people in Nipissing employed, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. For 7.1% of commuters in Nipissing, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 31.3 minutes. Half the households in Nipissing had more than $82,100 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Nipissing at work: what stands out
Fewer people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 67% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 46%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 14% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 7.1% 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.
Nipissing earns C− for jobs and income
Better than 15% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In and out of work in Nipissing
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Parry Sound census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 54%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 46% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 56% of the wider area’s adults in work. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from home.
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.
How long the commute from Nipissing takes
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Only 18% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 30.3 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.
Nipissing is quieter on a working day than at night
About 19 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 7.9% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
92% of Nipissing’s residents in work leave it to work; North Bay takes the most
- Powassan15
Of those coming in, Powassan supplies the most: 15.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Nipissing: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 61% of Canadian towns.
3 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Parry Sound census division have a higher median. Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Nipissing’s median is 10% 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).
1.8% of commuters from Nipissing go without a car
Working at home: 21%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 95% 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Parry Sound census division as in 2019
The count topped out in February 2021 at 3,090 people, 2.1 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4 receive EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Parry Sound census division, Nipissing included.
Nipissing earns D for walkability
Better than 7% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The work picture around Nipissing
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nipissing | 67% | 14% | $82K | 31.3 min | C− | D |
| Powassan 8.7 km | 73% | 10% | $81K | 26.2 min | C+ | C+ |
| Callander 16.4 km | 74% | 7.8% | $100K | 21.5 min | A− | 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 Nipissing, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
Questions about work in Nipissing
How do people in Nipissing get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, 1.8% walk, and on census day 21% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Nipissing?
About 31.3 minutes on average, with 18% under a quarter-hour and 7.1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Nipissing work?
Only 7.9% work in Nipissing itself; the rest go first to North Bay (200) and Powassan (95).
How many jobs are there in Nipissing?
In June 2026, 48 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Nipissing?
At the 2021 census 14% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Northeast economic region, gives 6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Nipissing?
Before tax, half the households in Nipissing had more than $82,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).