Photo: Tudor Costache / TheGiantVermin at English Wikipedia · CC BY 2.5Working-age people in Simcoe have jobs less often than in 67% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Simcoe had more than $81,700 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The census counted 13,820 people working in Simcoe and 19,760 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Unemployment in Simcoe stood at 10% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
The short version on work in Simcoe
Work near the middle
With 71% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 51% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Unemployment near the middle
On census day in 2021 10% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 7%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Simcoe earns C for jobs and income
Better than 30% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #539 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.
The daily tide in Simcoe runs outward
Each person commuting in is matched by about 3 residents going out. 54% 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.
46% of Simcoe’s residents in work leave it to work; Caledonia takes the most
- Tillsonburg610
- Caledonia580
- Brantford385
- Paris290
- Norwich225
- Hamilton160
- Bayham145
- Woodstock105
- South-West Oxford75
- Malahide65
- Caledonia1,800
- Brantford1,770
- Tillsonburg1,255
- Paris840
- Hamilton690
- Woodstock470
- Norwich310
- Grimsby295
- Cambridge145
- Burlington125
Inbound, the leader is Tillsonburg (610).
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 Simcoe work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In Simcoe, 71% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 57% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 51% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. In October 2026, 60% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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 Simcoe: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 60% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Simcoe sits 11% below. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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: 4.2% of Simcoe’s commuters
Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, 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.
27.5 minutes from Simcoe to work, about the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 32% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. An hour or more: 8.9% of commuters, above the 7.9% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 24.9 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the Haldimand-Norfolk census division run 27% above their 2019 level
In February 2021 it reached 6,160, the most in the series and 2.6 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.6 are on EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 1%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Haldimand-Norfolk 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).
Simcoe earns B− for walkability
Better than 53% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #673 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Simcoe places 39th of 45 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 52,900 to 102,100
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Langford British Columbia | 59,664 | 81% | 6.2% | $93K | A |
| 2 | St. Albert Alberta | 74,621 | 77% | 9.1% | $118K | A |
| 3 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Halton Hills Ontario | 68,265 | 76% | 9.7% | $127K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Woodstock Ontario | 55,572 | 72% | 12% | $82K | B− |
| 21 | Sarnia Ontario | 80,539 | 66% | 13% | $78K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Châteauguay Quebec | 53,508 | 75% | 8.4% | $79K | C |
| 38 | Peterborough Ontario | 97,834 | 66% | 15% | $72K | C |
| 39 | Norfolk County Ontario | 75,618 | 71% | 10% | $82K | C |
| 40 | Georgina Ontario | 53,630 | 72% | 11% | $98K | C |
| 41 | Cornwall Ontario | 54,346 | 63% | 12% | $60K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 45 | Chomedey Quebec | 81,813 | 69% | 12% | $66K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Simcoe, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Simcoe
Simcoe has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 26–39 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simcoe | 71% | 10% | $82K | 27.5 min | C | B− |
| Norwich 25.8 km | 80% | 6.7% | $95K | 24.5 min | A | C+ |
| Tillsonburg 29.7 km | 70% | 12% | $74K | 22 min | C+ | B+ |
| Brantford 37.3 km | 69% | 12% | $79K | 24.9 min | C | A− |
| Bayham 37.6 km | 68% | 11% | $82K | 31 min | C− | C |
| South-West Oxford 38.8 km | 79% | 7.9% | $98K | 24.4 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 Simcoe, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- 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. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- The municipality’s figures. Statistics Canada counts Simcoe as part of Norfolk County, so every census figure on this page is the whole municipality’s.
Questions about work in Simcoe
What is the unemployment rate in Simcoe?
Two figures answer it: 10% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7% for the Hamilton-Niagara Peninsula economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Simcoe?
The census puts Simcoe at $81,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Simcoe get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 0.2% take public transit, 3.7% walk and 0.3% cycle; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Simcoe?
27.5 minutes is the average trip, with 32% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 8.9% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Simcoe work?
Most stay: 54% work in Simcoe. The rest go first to Caledonia (1,800) and Brantford (1,770).
How many jobs are there in Simcoe?
The 2021 census counted about 13,820 people working in Simcoe: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 2,100 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).