Photo: R Orville Lyttle · CC BY-SA 2.0Working-age people in Prescott have jobs less often than in 90% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 12% of Prescott’s labour force without a job, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. The census counted 1,345 people working in Prescott and 1,075 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. In 2020, a household at the middle of Prescott had $61,400 before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Prescott’s work numbers say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 63% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 43%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $61,400 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 1,345 jobs based in Prescott and 1,075 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.
Jobs and income in Prescott earn D
Better than 11% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #743 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
Prescott at work: 63% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Leeds and Grenville census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 50%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 43%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. 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.
Household income in Prescott
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 86% of Canadian towns.
Prescott’s median is 33% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Leeds and Grenville census division has a higher median. The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Each working day, Prescott’s workforce swells by 21%
Of those who commute, 36% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
959 people come into Prescott to work, most from Augusta and Cardinal
71% of the people who work in Prescott live outside it, 295 of them in Augusta, 7 km away. Brockville is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 250 of them.
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 Prescott work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Prescott gets to work without a car for 5.1% of commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 14%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian 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.
At 23.6 minutes, commutes from Prescott are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 20.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 41% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 9.3% of commuters, above the 7.9% 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.
20% more people are on EI in the Leeds and Grenville census division than in 2019
The count topped out in February 2021 at 5,400 people, 2.7 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.9 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Leeds and Grenville 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).
Prescott grades A− for walkability
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #511 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Prescott ranks: 674th of 761 Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Red Lake Ontario | 4,285 | 77% | 5.1% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Perth South Ontario | 4,055 | 87% | 7.3% | $102K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Island Park-Wellington Village Ontario | 5,486 | 81% | 7% | $161K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 672 | Madawaska Valley Ontario | 4,151 | 65% | 9.4% | $63K | D |
| 673 | Queen Alexandra Alberta | 5,106 | 67% | 14% | $57K | D |
| 674 | Prescott Ontario | 4,342 | 63% | 12% | $61K | D |
| 675 | Stoney Creek Ontario | 3,828 | 69% | 11% | $63K | D |
| 676 | Saint-Jean-de-Matha Quebec | 5,415 | 72% | 7.6% | $64K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 761 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Prescott, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Prescott: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott | 63% | 12% | $61K | 23.6 min | D | A− |
| Augusta 6.5 km | 78% | 7.9% | $96K | 25.4 min | B+ | C− |
| Cardinal 13.9 km | 73% | 9.3% | $85K | 30.8 min | C | C− |
| Brockville 18.7 km | 65% | 15% | $64K | 18.1 min | C | 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 Prescott, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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. 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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.
- 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 Prescott
What is the unemployment rate in Prescott?
The 2021 census found 12% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Ottawa economic region, is 8% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Prescott?
At $61,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Prescott compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Prescott get to work?
94% of commuters drive, 5.1% walk; 14% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Prescott?
The average commute is 23.6 minutes; 41% of trips take under 15 minutes and 9.3% an hour or more.
Where do people in Prescott work?
36% work in Prescott itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Brockville (250), then Cardinal (130).
How many jobs are there in Prescott?
The 2021 census found about 1,345 people with their usual workplace in Prescott, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 125 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).