Photo: Gogerr · CC BY-SA 4.0Thorold has a smaller share of its working-age people in jobs than 88% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 15% of Thorold’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. 4,985 people have their usual place of work in Thorold, against 6,535 residents who travel to a job. The median household in Thorold had $82,600 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
Thorold and work: the main findings
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 64% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 52% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 15% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 7.1% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
On jobs and income, Thorold grades C
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #592 of 866 in Ontario.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Thorold at work: 64% of people aged 15 to 64
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Niagara 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 62% of residents that age. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 55% of the wider area’s adults in work. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
A commuter town: Thorold sends out more workers than it takes in
Of those who commute, 18% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
82% of Thorold’s residents in work leave it to work; St. Catharines takes the most
- St. Catharines1,335
- Niagara Falls775
- Welland590
- Pelham225
- Fort Erie190
- Port Colborne150
- Hamilton90
- Beamsville90
- Grimsby85
- Niagara-on-the-Lake75
- St. Catharines2,305
- Niagara Falls870
- Welland420
- Hamilton335
- Niagara-on-the-Lake305
- Beamsville200
- Pelham135
- Grimsby115
- Burlington105
- Mississauga100
Of those coming in, St. Catharines supplies the most: 1,335.
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 Thorold work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Thorold’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 62% of Canadian towns.
Of the 11 other places of 2,500 or more in the Niagara census division, 6 have a higher median. Thorold’s median is 10% below the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). Read the incomes as 2020’s, before tax: pandemic benefits such as CERB are in them, and they raised many low incomes for that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Thorold gets to work without a car for 4.9% of commuters
Home was the workplace for 19%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 2.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 93% of commuters.
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.
At 25.6 minutes, commutes from Thorold are close to the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 23 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 31%, close to the middle of Ontario’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
37% more people are on EI in the Niagara census division than in 2019
In February 2021 it reached 35,740, the most in the series and 4.3 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 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 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).
Thorold grades B for walkability
Better than 64% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #593 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Thorold is 140th of 198 Canadian towns of 23,700 to 45,700 people for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Bridlewood - Emerald Meadows Ontario | 25,824 | 77% | 8.9% | $136K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Centre Wellington Ontario | 34,565 | 81% | 7.2% | $101K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Strawberry Hill British Columbia | 37,037 | 72% | 9.4% | $92K | C |
| 139 | Brockville Ontario | 23,720 | 65% | 15% | $64K | C |
| 140 | Thorold Ontario | 33,844 | 64% | 15% | $83K | C |
| 141 | Fort Erie Ontario | 37,226 | 67% | 15% | $76K | C |
| 142 | Côte-Saint-Luc Quebec | 37,901 | 76% | 12% | $73K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 198 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Thorold, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Thorold
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorold | 64% | 15% | $83K | 25.6 min | C | B |
| St. Catharines 7.3 km | 66% | 16% | $72K | 22.2 min | C | A |
| Niagara Falls 9.5 km | 60% | 23% | $75K | 22 min | C | B+ |
| Pelham 10.3 km | 76% | 8.6% | $110K | 25 min | A− | C+ |
| Welland 13.2 km | 65% | 15% | $72K | 24.5 min | C− | A− |
| Niagara-on-the-Lake 14.9 km | 70% | 15% | $98K | 23.5 min | B | B |
| Beamsville 18.1 km | 76% | 9.5% | $103K | 26.1 min | B+ | 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 Thorold, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t 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. 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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 Thorold
How many jobs are there in Thorold?
The 2021 census found about 4,985 people with their usual workplace in Thorold, or 0.8 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 683 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Thorold?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 15% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the St. Catharines-Niagara metro area at 7.1% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Thorold?
At $82,600 before tax in 2020, the median household in Thorold compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Thorold get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 2.3% take public transit, 2.4% walk and 0.2% cycle; 19% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Thorold?
The average commute is 25.6 minutes; 31% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.9% an hour or more.
Where do people in Thorold work?
Only 18% work in Thorold itself; the rest go first to St. Catharines (2,305) and Niagara Falls (870).
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).