Photo: norgo · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Severn works elsewhere: the town has 0.4 jobs for each resident in work
The 2021 census found 74% of working-age people in Severn employed; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Median household income in Severn was $94,200 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Getting to work from Severn takes 30.4 minutes on average, an hour or more for 13%.
What sets Severn apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
The 2021 census found 74% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 54%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 13% 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.
On jobs and income, Severn grades C+
Better than 40% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #417 of 866 in Ontario.
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.
Commuting times in Severn
In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Only 27% 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 28.1 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.
A commuter town: Severn sends out more workers than it takes in
It sends out some 3 workers for every one it takes in. 17% 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.
83% of Severn’s residents in work leave it to work; Orillia takes the most
- Oro-Medonte285
- Orillia270
- Ramara140
- Tay80
- Barrie65
- Gravenhurst55
- Lindsay30
- Georgian Bay30
- Midland25
- Angus10
In the other direction the biggest source is Oro-Medonte, with 285.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In and out of work in Severn
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Simcoe census division, 12 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 64% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 60%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 54% of residents 15 and over were in work. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
Earnings at home in Severn: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 80% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Severn sits 3% above. Of the 17 other places of 2,500 or more in the Simcoe census division, 8 have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 2.1% of Severn’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 19%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The car is the way to work for 97% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Simcoe census division run 38% above their 2019 level
That is about 4.4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 5%. At its peak, in February 2021, 31,440 people were on EI, 3.2 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Simcoe 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).
How walkable Severn is: C
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #790 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 11,000 to 21,200, Severn ranks 294th of 551 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 8 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 292 | Sainte-Sophie Quebec | 19,467 | 79% | 5.7% | $84K | C+ |
| 293 | Carson Grove - Carson Meadows Ontario | 11,290 | 70% | 9.9% | $87K | C+ |
| 294 | Severn Ontario | 15,716 | 74% | 11% | $94K | C+ |
| 295 | Brock Ontario | 13,710 | 77% | 8.6% | $93K | C+ |
| 296 | Sheridan Ontario | 15,775 | 68% | 14% | $116K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 551 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Severn, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs near Severn: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severn | 74% | 11% | $94K | 30.4 min | C+ | C |
| Orillia 7.1 km | 66% | 15% | $71K | 23 min | C− | A |
| Chippewas of Rama First Nation 8.7 km | 48% | 28% | $68K | 19.4 min | C− | B |
| Oro-Medonte 16.7 km | 75% | 11% | $116K | 31.7 min | B− | C− |
| Ramara 17.9 km | 70% | 14% | $85K | 34.2 min | C− | D |
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 Severn, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Severn
What is the unemployment rate in Severn?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 11% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region at 6.5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Severn?
Before tax, half the households in Severn had more than $94,200 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Severn get to work?
Driving takes 97% of commuters to work, 0.2% take public transit and 1.9% walk, and on census day 19% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Severn?
About 30.4 minutes on average, with 27% under a quarter-hour and 13% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Severn work?
Only 17% work in Severn itself; the rest go first to Orillia (1,690) and Barrie (475).
How many jobs are there in Severn?
Statistics Canada counted 491 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).