Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Thessalon than in 96% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Thessalon reached 14%, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Commutes from Thessalon average 14 minutes, and 4.3% take an hour or more. Half the households in Thessalon had more than $59,400 in 2020, before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Thessalon
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 56% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 36%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
14% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $59,400 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
485 people work in Thessalon and 305 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 14 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.3% 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.
Thessalon grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 23% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
In Thessalon, 56% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Algoma census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 42% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 36% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. 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.
Earnings at home in Thessalon: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 89% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Thessalon’s median is 35% below. 4 of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Algoma census division 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).
Thessalon fills up on a working day: 55% more workers
305 residents of Thessalon had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 485 people had theirs in Thessalon, wherever they lived.
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 3 to 1 in Thessalon. Of those who commute, 64% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Shorter than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Thessalon average 14 minutes
Timed exactly, the average is 11.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 77%, more 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
289 people come into Thessalon to work, most from Huron Shores and Plummer Additional
- Huron Shores140
- Plummer Additional35
- Sault Ste. Marie20
- Algoma, Unorganized, North Part20
- Blind River15
- Laird10
- Tarbutt and Tarbutt Additional10
- Johnson10
- Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional10
- Mississagi River 810
- Huron Shores50
- Bruce Mines15
- Sault Ste. Marie15
- Johnson10
- Thessalon 1210
Of everyone working in Thessalon, 60% come in from elsewhere; 140 make the 16 km trip from Huron Shores. Huron Shores is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 50 of them.
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 Thessalon work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Thessalon gets to work without a car for 12% of commuters
Driving to work is about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns, at 87%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 6.8% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, 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.
4% more people are on EI in the Algoma census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 6%. In April 2021 it reached 7,740, the most in the series and 2.4 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 5 receive EI.
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 Algoma 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).
Thessalon grades A− for walkability
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Thessalon compares with the places nearby
Thessalon has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 16–47 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thessalon | 56% | 14% | $59K | 14 min | C− | A− |
| Huron Shores 15.7 km | 68% | 9.4% | $67K | 25.9 min | D | C− |
| St. Joseph 38.9 km | 71% | 12% | $82K | 32.8 min | C− | C− |
| Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional 43.9 km | 73% | 8.7% | $96K | 33.8 min | C | D− |
| Laird 44.1 km | 72% | 9.8% | $99K | 32.4 min | C | D− |
| Blind River 47.4 km | 65% | 12% | $67K | 17.2 min | C | B+ |
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 Thessalon, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Thessalon
Where do people in Thessalon work?
64% work in Thessalon itself; of those who leave, the most go to Huron Shores (50), then Bruce Mines (15).
How many jobs are there in Thessalon?
The 2021 census found about 485 people with their usual workplace in Thessalon, or 1.6 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 41 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Thessalon?
Two figures answer it: 14% 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 Thessalon?
The census puts Thessalon at $59,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Thessalon get to work?
87% of commuters drive, 12% walk; 6.8% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Thessalon?
The average commute is 14 minutes; 77% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.3% an hour or more.
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).