Photo: Mike Kalasnik from Charlotte, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Iris have jobs less often than in 71% of Canadian towns
Workers in Iris spend 23.2 minutes on the way to work on average (26 in the middle of Canadian towns). Half the households in Iris had more than $84,100 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. In May 2021, unemployment in Iris reached 13%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Iris
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 7.3%. Unemployment ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 32% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Iris: B−
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #329 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Work for 70% of 15-to-64s in Iris
Of the 102 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Ottawa census division, 30 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 61% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 68% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Walking, cycling or transit: 21% of Iris’ commuters
More people take transit to work here than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 14% against 5.6%. The car takes 76% of commuters here, under the 88% in the middle of Ontario’s towns.
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.
What households in Iris earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 64% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Iris sits 8% below. 82 of the 102 other places of 2,500+ in the Ottawa census division have a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
55% more people are on EI in the Ottawa census division than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 6%. The count topped out in April 2021 at 42,900 people, 3.3 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 3.7 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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 Iris alone, so this card uses the figure for the Ottawa census division.
Getting around Iris on foot earns A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #204 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Iris is 366th of 699 Canadian towns of 4,000 to 7,700 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Sioux Lookout Ontario | 6,122 | 79% | 5.7% | $103K | A+ |
| 6 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| 7 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 364 | Bathurst New Brunswick | 4,840 | 71% | 11% | $73K | B− |
| 365 | Bells Corners West Ontario | 4,422 | 74% | 9.9% | $85K | B− |
| 366 | Iris Ontario | 5,733 | 70% | 13% | $84K | B− |
| 367 | La Pocatière Quebec | 4,206 | 75% | 7.1% | $57K | B− |
| 368 | Ellerslie Alberta | 5,963 | 70% | 11% | $103K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 699 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Iris, and others among Ontario’s towns.
The places around Iris, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | 70% | 13% | $84K | 23.2 min | B− | A+ |
| Queensway Terrace North 1.1 km | 78% | 6.9% | $107K | 21.9 min | A | A+ |
| Centrepointe - Briargreen 1.3 km | 73% | 12% | $122K | 23.7 min | A− | A+ |
| Qualicum - Redwood 1.4 km | 70% | 13% | $99K | 22.8 min | B | A+ |
| Bayshore 1.9 km | 62% | 16% | $71K | 28 min | D | A+ |
| Britannia 1.9 km | 65% | 14% | $67K | 27.1 min | D | A+ |
| Leslie Park - Bruce Farm 2 km | 71% | 11% | $100K | 25.7 min | B− | A+ |
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 Iris, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
- Neighbourhood figures. The census reaches a neighbourhood only through its dissemination areas, and Iris’ figures add those up. Ottawa’s page has the commuting flows, which exist only for the whole municipality.
Questions about work in Iris
What is the average household income in Iris?
Before tax, half the households in Iris had more than $84,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Iris get to work?
76% of commuters drive, 14% take public transit, 7.1% walk and 0.8% cycle; 32% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How many jobs are there in Iris?
There is no count for a neighbourhood: the jobs figure, and where commuters go, are published for Ottawa as one municipality.
What is the unemployment rate in Iris?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part metro area at 7.3%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 13%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).