Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0A place people come to for work: Smiths Falls has 1.9 jobs per resident in work
Before tax, the typical household in Smiths Falls brought in $61,400 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. 67% of people aged 15 to 64 in Smiths Falls had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Of everyone in Smiths Falls working or looking for work in May 2021, 10% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Jobs and income in Smiths Falls: what the figures say
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 47%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $61,400 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
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 Smiths Falls earn D
Better than 9% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #756 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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 Smiths Falls
None of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lanark 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 53%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 47% of residents 15 and over were in work. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Pandemic rules were in force on census day, 11 May 2021; the Labour Force Survey shows how jobs have moved since.
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 Smiths Falls’ household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 86% of Canadian towns.
Smiths Falls’ median is 33% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Lanark census division has a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Every working day, Smiths Falls’ workforce grows by 77%
For every resident who leaves Smiths Falls for work, about 3 people come in. 62% 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.
3,226 people come into Smiths Falls to work, most from Rideau Lakes and Montague
68% of the people who work in Smiths Falls live outside it, 825 of them in Rideau Lakes, 25 km away. Going the other way, Ottawa is the biggest single destination (375).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 13% of Smiths Falls’ commuters
Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 86% against 88%. Only 12% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 0.3% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Ontario’s towns has 3.2% walking; here, 12% do.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 25.6 minutes from Smiths Falls
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 22.7 minutes. The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 49% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. 11% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Ontario’s towns has 7.9%.
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.
20% more people are on EI in the Lanark census division than in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,450 people on EI, 2.6 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.1 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose 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 Lanark 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).
The Walkability grade for Smiths Falls: A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #281 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Smiths Falls compares with Canadian towns of 7,800 to 15,000 people
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 12 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 608 | Notre-Dame-de-Grâces Quebec | 10,204 | 73% | 10% | $56K | D |
| 609 | Bayshore Ontario | 14,491 | 62% | 16% | $71K | D |
| 610 | Smiths Falls Ontario | 11,093 | 67% | 10% | $61K | D |
| 611 | City Centre Ontario | 10,269 | 45% | 23% | $37K | D |
| 612 | Sandwich Ontario | 14,110 | 54% | 21% | $57K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 652 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Smiths Falls, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Around Smiths Falls: jobs, pay and the commute
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smiths Falls | 67% | 10% | $61K | 25.6 min | D | A+ |
| Montague 6.9 km | 75% | 7.8% | $98K | 33.1 min | C+ | D |
| Merrickville 12.4 km | 81% | 7.5% | $88K | 35 min | B− | B |
| Drummond/North Elmsley 15.7 km | 78% | 7.2% | $97K | 27.2 min | B+ | D |
| Perth 18.7 km | 69% | 13% | $64K | 24.3 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 Smiths Falls, 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. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. 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.
- 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. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Smiths Falls
How many jobs are there in Smiths Falls?
Statistics Canada counted 299 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Smiths Falls?
The 2021 census found 10% 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 Smiths Falls?
Smiths Falls’s middle household had $61,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Smiths Falls get to work?
Driving takes 86% of commuters to work, 0.3% take public transit, 12% walk and 0.5% cycle, and on census day 12% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Smiths Falls?
About 25.6 minutes on average, with 49% under a quarter-hour and 11% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Smiths Falls work?
62% work in Smiths Falls itself; of those who leave, the most go to Ottawa (375), then Perth (165).
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).