Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Strong has 0.5 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
The median household in Strong had $71,700 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Out of work in May 2021: 13% of Strong’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Strong take well under an hour: the average is 31.9 minutes, and 19% take 60 minutes or longer.
Work in Strong: the figures worth knowing
More unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 6% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 13%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $71,700 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 31.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 19% 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.
Strong grades D for jobs and income
Better than 8% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Work for 69% of 15-to-64s in Strong
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Parry Sound census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 51% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 45%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 56% in October 2026. 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 Strong’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 62% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Strong sits 22% below. Of the 7 other places of 2,500 or more in the Parry Sound census division, 5 have a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Time on the road to work from Strong
A quarter-hour or less for 34% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 33.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 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.
Each working day, more people leave Strong for work than come in
330 residents of Strong had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 150 people had theirs in Strong, wherever they lived.
It sends out some 3 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 15% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
85% of Strong’s residents in work leave it to work; Sundridge takes the most
- Powassan20
- McMurrich/Monteith15
- Sundridge15
- South River15
- Armour10
- Magnetawan10
- Machar10
In the other direction the biggest source is Powassan, with 20.
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 Strong work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Strong gets to work without a car for 3.2% of commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 96% of commuters go by car, truck or van. 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day, against 21% 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.
About as many people are on EI in the Parry Sound census division as in 2019
February 2021 was the busiest month, with 3,090 people on EI, 2.1 times 2019’s average. That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 5%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Strong alone, so this card uses the figure for the Parry Sound census division.
Everyday places on foot in Strong: D
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Strong, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | 69% | 13% | $72K | 31.9 min | D | D |
| Sundridge 5.5 km | 61% | 13% | $60K | 25.4 min | D | B+ |
| South River 12.6 km | 59% | 17% | $63K | 23.6 min | D | A |
| Burk's Falls 12.9 km | 77% | 11% | $54K | 24.9 min | C− | B+ |
| Armour 15 km | 62% | 18% | $71K | 29.8 min | D | C |
| Magnetawan 18.7 km | 60% | 11% | $66K | 28.4 min | D | 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 Strong, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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.
Questions about work in Strong
How many jobs are there in Strong?
The 2021 census found about 150 people with their usual workplace in Strong, or 0.5 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 27 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Strong?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6% for the Northeast economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Strong?
The median household in Strong had $71,700 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Strong get to work?
96% of commuters drive, 3.2% walk; 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Strong?
The average commute is 31.9 minutes; 34% of trips take under 15 minutes and 19% an hour or more.
Where do people in Strong work?
Only 15% work in Strong itself; the rest go first to Sundridge (65) and Burk's Falls (60).
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).