Photo: Derek Hatfield from Peterborough, Canada · CC BY 2.095% of Thunder Bay’s commuters work without leaving it
Most commutes from Thunder Bay take well under an hour: the average is 17.2 minutes, and 2.6% take 60 minutes or longer. Jobs were held by 68% of people aged 15 to 64 in Thunder Bay in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. Half the households in Thunder Bay had more than $77,600 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
What the numbers say about work in Thunder Bay
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 52% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 68%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More jobs than the typical town
37,225 people work in Thunder Bay and 33,905 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 17.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.6% 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.
Thunder Bay grades B− for jobs and income
Better than 54% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #275 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.
How many in Thunder Bay were working in 2021
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Thunder Bay census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 59% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 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.
Each working day, Thunder Bay’s workforce swells by 8%
33,905 residents of Thunder Bay had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 37,225 people had theirs in Thunder Bay, wherever they lived.
For every resident who leaves Thunder Bay for work, about 3 people come in.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Commuting times in Thunder Bay
The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 28.6 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 53%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 15.6 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
5,151 people come into Thunder Bay to work, most from Oliver Paipoonge and Thunder Bay, Unorganized
- Oliver Paipoonge1,405
- Thunder Bay, Unorganized1,150
- Shuniah730
- Neebing525
- O'Connor215
- Conmee205
- Fort William 5280
- Gillies50
- Ottawa35
- Toronto30
- Oliver Paipoonge505
- Fort William 52250
- Shuniah105
- Thunder Bay, Unorganized80
- Nipigon65
- Geraldton55
- Lac des Mille Lacs 22A1 (IRI)55
- Kenora, Unorganized55
- Chapple45
- Sioux Lookout40
Of everyone working in Thunder Bay, 14% come in from elsewhere; 1,405 make the 16 km trip from Oliver Paipoonge. Going the other way, Oliver Paipoonge is the biggest single destination (505).
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 Thunder Bay work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Thunder Bay’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 51% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600), Thunder Bay’s median is 15% below. Of the 5 other places of 2,500 or more in the Thunder Bay census division, 4 have a higher median. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
Thunder Bay gets to work without a car for 9.7% of commuters
By bus, train or subway: 3.8%, much as in the middle of Canadian towns. 89% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Only 17% 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.
In the Thunder Bay census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 1%. April 2021 was the busiest month, with 8,970 people on EI, 2.6 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Thunder Bay census division, Thunder Bay included.
The walkability of Thunder Bay: A−
Better than 79% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #498 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Thunder Bay is 19th of 40 Canadian towns of 82,400 to 158,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 2 | North Vancouver British Columbia | 97,845 | 79% | 7.3% | $123K | A |
| 3 | Strathcona County Alberta | 107,345 | 77% | 9.1% | $124K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| 18 | Repentigny Quebec | 91,290 | 80% | 5.9% | $91K | B− |
| 19 | Thunder Bay Ontario | 117,671 | 68% | 11% | $78K | B− |
| 20 | Maple Ridge British Columbia | 105,925 | 77% | 6.7% | $105K | B− |
| 21 | St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador | 128,693 | 68% | 12% | $75K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Kingston Ontario | 149,527 | 68% | 13% | $79K | B− |
| 24 | Clarington Ontario | 114,180 | 73% | 11% | $113K | B− |
| 25 | Caledon Ontario | 90,201 | 74% | 11% | $133K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Kawartha Lakes Ontario | 85,351 | 70% | 11% | $82K | C− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Thunder Bay, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Thunder Bay and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunder Bay | 68% | 11% | $78K | 17.2 min | B− | A− |
| Fort William 52 9.6 km | 41% | 16% | $58K | 17.9 min | C− | B− |
| Oliver Paipoonge 16.2 km | 74% | 8% | $108K | 25.3 min | B+ | 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 Thunder Bay, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- 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 Thunder Bay
How long is the commute from Thunder Bay?
On average 17.2 minutes; 53% take under 15 minutes and 2.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Thunder Bay work?
Most stay: 95% work in Thunder Bay. The rest go first to Oliver Paipoonge (505) and Fort William 52 (250).
How many jobs are there in Thunder Bay?
About 37,225 people had their usual place of work in Thunder Bay at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 3,308 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Thunder Bay?
Two figures answer it: 11% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.6% for the Thunder Bay metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Thunder Bay?
The median household in Thunder Bay had $77,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Thunder Bay get to work?
89% of commuters go by car, 3.8% take public transit, 4.7% walk and 1.2% cycle. On census day 17% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).