Photo: Nick3501 · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for each resident in work, most of Tay commutes out
Commutes from Tay average 29.3 minutes, and 11% take an hour or more. At the 2021 census, 69% of Tay’s 15-to-64s were in work, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Before tax, the typical household in Tay brought in $82,000 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Work in Tay: the figures worth knowing
Work near the middle
At the 2021 census 69% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 51%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 29.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% 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.
Tay earns C− for jobs and income
Better than 22% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #631 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.
How long the commute from Tay takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 27.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 29%, fewer than the 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.
Tay empties a little on a working day
It sends out some 9 workers for every one it takes in. 13% 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.
87% of Tay’s residents in work leave it to work; Midland takes the most
- Midland1,170
- Penetanguishene325
- Barrie265
- Orillia225
- Springwater110
- Severn80
- Oro-Medonte70
- Georgian Bay65
- Tiny60
- Toronto55
Inbound, the leader is Midland (90).
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 Tay
Of the 17 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Simcoe census division, 4 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 51%. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 64% of the wider area’s adults in work. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 57% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
How Tay’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 61% of Canadian towns.
12 of the 17 other places of 2,500+ in the Simcoe census division have a higher median. Tay’s median is 10% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 3.6% of commuters in Tay
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 17% against 21%. Transit takes 0.5% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 95% 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).
38% more people are on EI in the Simcoe census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 5%. The count topped out in February 2021 at 31,440 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.4 receive EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: 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).
Tay earns C+ for walkability
Better than 42% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #718 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 8,400 to 16,200, Tay ranks 519th of 632 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 | Walsh Acres/Lakeridge/Garden Ridge Saskatchewan | 9,325 | 80% | 6.7% | $127K | A+ |
| 4 | Glebe-Dows Lake Ontario | 13,436 | 80% | 9.4% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Wellesley Ontario | 12,413 | 84% | 3.9% | $119K | A+ |
| 9 | Perth East Ontario | 13,423 | 86% | 3.9% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 517 | Semiahmoo Town Centre British Columbia | 13,381 | 71% | 8.2% | $79K | C− |
| 518 | Arnprior Ontario | 11,459 | 72% | 9.4% | $76K | C− |
| 519 | Tay Ontario | 11,968 | 69% | 11% | $82K | C− |
| 520 | South Bruce Peninsula Ontario | 9,799 | 73% | 9.3% | $72K | C− |
| 521 | Vanier North Ontario | 10,498 | 70% | 11% | $69K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 632 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Tay, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Tay
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tay | 69% | 11% | $82K | 29.3 min | C− | C+ |
| Midland 8.9 km | 66% | 13% | $70K | 21.8 min | C | A |
| Penetanguishene 13.2 km | 60% | 12% | $74K | 20.9 min | C | B+ |
| Tiny 17.7 km | 70% | 12% | $88K | 29.1 min | C | 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 Tay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless rate.
- 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Tay
How many jobs are there in Tay?
In June 2026, 229 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Tay?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 6.5% for the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Tay?
At $82,000 before tax in 2020, the median household in Tay compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Tay get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 0.5% take public transit, 2.6% walk and 0.5% cycle; on census day 17% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Tay?
29.3 minutes is the average trip, with 29% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 11% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Tay work?
13% work in Tay itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Midland (1,170), then Penetanguishene (325).
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).