Photo: Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.0Working-age people in St. Catharines are less likely to have a job than in 84% of Canadian towns
In 2020, a household at the middle of St. Catharines had $72,400 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. An hour or more each way is the commute for 5.6% of workers in St. Catharines; the average is 22.2 minutes. Out of work in May 2021: 16% of St. Catharines’ labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in St. Catharines
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 49% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 66%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 16% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $72,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5.6% last an hour or longer. 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.
St. Catharines earns C for jobs and income
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #572 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.
St. Catharines at work: 66% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Niagara census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 58% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 49%. In October 2026, 55% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
Earnings at home in St. Catharines: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 60% of Canadian towns.
9 of the 11 other places of 2,500+ in the Niagara census division have a higher median. The middle of Ontario’s towns is $91,600, and St. Catharines is 21% below it. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Commuting times in St. Catharines
Timed exactly, the average is 20 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.
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.
As many come into St. Catharines to work as leave
37,775 residents of St. Catharines had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 38,130 people had theirs in St. Catharines, wherever they lived.
60% 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.
15,616 people come into St. Catharines to work, most from Niagara Falls and Welland
- Niagara Falls4,210
- Welland2,440
- Thorold2,305
- Beamsville930
- Pelham925
- Niagara-on-the-Lake870
- Hamilton770
- Fort Erie745
- Port Colborne560
- Grimsby465
- Niagara Falls2,880
- Niagara-on-the-Lake2,230
- Hamilton2,105
- Beamsville1,720
- Thorold1,335
- Welland945
- Grimsby710
- Burlington595
- Pelham415
- Toronto385
41% of the people who work in St. Catharines live outside it, 4,210 of them in Niagara Falls, 14 km away. The main destination the other way is Niagara Falls, with 2,880.
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 St. Catharines work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 7.9% of St. Catharines’ commuters
Working at home: 21%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. By bus, train or subway: 3%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 90% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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.
37% more people are on EI in the Niagara census division than in 2019
That works out to around 4.3 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 1%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 35,740 people on EI, 4.3 times 2019’s average.
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 Niagara 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 St. Catharines: A
Better than 88% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #418 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How St. Catharines compares with Canadian towns of 107,700 to 207,700 people
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Ajax Ontario | 141,111 | 69% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 31 | Coquitlam British Columbia | 173,599 | 73% | 9% | $92K | C |
| 32 | St. Catharines Ontario | 153,865 | 66% | 16% | $72K | C |
| 33 | Niagara Falls Ontario | 113,983 | 60% | 23% | $75K | C |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of St. Catharines, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around St. Catharines
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Catharines | 66% | 16% | $72K | 22.2 min | C | A |
| Thorold 7.3 km | 64% | 15% | $83K | 25.6 min | C | B |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake 11.1 km | 70% | 15% | $98K | 23.5 min | B | B |
| Niagara Falls 14.2 km | 60% | 23% | $75K | 22 min | C | B+ |
| Beamsville 15.3 km | 76% | 9.5% | $103K | 26.1 min | B+ | B |
| Pelham 15.6 km | 76% | 8.6% | $110K | 25 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 St. Catharines, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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.
Questions about work in St. Catharines
What is the unemployment rate in St. Catharines?
At the 2021 census 16% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the St. Catharines-Niagara metro area, gives 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in St. Catharines?
The census puts St. Catharines at $72,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in St. Catharines get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 3% take public transit, 4.1% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 21% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from St. Catharines?
On average 22.2 minutes; 41% take under 15 minutes and 5.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in St. Catharines work?
60% work in St. Catharines itself; of those who leave, the most go to Niagara Falls (2,880), then Niagara-on-the-Lake (2,230).
How many jobs are there in St. Catharines?
About 38,130 people had their usual place of work in St. Catharines at the 2021 census, 1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 4,021 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).