Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and earnings in Wawa, and the trip to work
Median household income in Wawa was $80,700 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Workers in Wawa spend 21.7 minutes on the way to work on average, and 17% need an hour or more. Jobs were held by 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Wawa in 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Wawa stands out on work
More jobs than the typical town
1,085 people work in Wawa and 1,000 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 21.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 17% 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.
Jobs and income in Wawa earn B+
Better than 70% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #150 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.
Every working day, Wawa’s workforce grows by 8%
1,000 residents of Wawa had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,085 people had theirs in Wawa, wherever they lived.
Of those who commute, 80% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Wawa
Trips under 15 minutes: 70%, more than the 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.9 minutes. In the middle of Ontario’s towns, the average commute is 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.
282 people come into Wawa to work, most from Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma, Unorganized, North Part
- Algoma, Unorganized, North Part90
- White River25
- Blind River10
- Sault Ste. Marie10
- Dubreuilville10
- Thunder Bay10
- Fort McMurray10
Of everyone working in Wawa, 26% come in from elsewhere; 75 make the 167 km trip from Sault Ste. Marie. Going the other way, Algoma, Unorganized, North Part is the biggest single destination (90).
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 Wawa work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In and out of work in Wawa
All 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Algoma census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 56% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Working or looking, 64% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 58% of residents 15 and over were in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
What households in Wawa earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 57% of Canadian towns.
Set beside Ontario’s towns, where the median is $91,600, Wawa sits 12% below. No other place of 2,500 or more in the Algoma census division has a higher median. 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).
Without a car, 12% of Wawa’s commuters get to work
By bike: 3% of commuters, well above the 0.2% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Ontario’s towns: 85% against 88%. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 9% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
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
At its peak, in April 2021, 7,740 people were on EI, 2.4 times the 2019 average. Roughly 5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 6%.
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).
Wawa earns A for walkability
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #322 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Wawa places 182nd of 578 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | McDougall Ontario | 3,002 | 82% | 9.6% | $93K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Adelaide-Metcalfe Ontario | 3,196 | 86% | 5.9% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Enniskillen Ontario | 3,174 | 82% | 5.2% | $105K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 180 | Maple Alberta | 3,920 | 76% | 12% | $114K | B+ |
| 181 | Admaston/Bromley Ontario | 3,086 | 82% | 5.9% | $85K | B+ |
| 182 | Wawa Ontario | 2,943 | 76% | 9.6% | $81K | B+ |
| 183 | Electoral Area E, Peace River British Columbia | 2,737 | 78% | 8.1% | $103K | B+ |
| 184 | Baie-D'Urfé Quebec | 3,706 | 75% | 8.8% | $147K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 578 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Wawa, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in the places around Wawa
Distances here run 104–148 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Wawa.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wawa | 76% | 9.6% | $81K | 21.7 min | B+ | A |
| Chapleau 104.3 km | 73% | 6.9% | $84K | 9.8 min | A− | A |
| Hornepayne 138 km | 67% | 8.2% | $104K | 10.8 min | A | A− |
| Algoma, Unorganized, North Part 139.9 km | 62% | 16% | $76K | 31.2 min | D | D |
| Marathon 142.2 km | 68% | 8.2% | $94K | 20.1 min | B+ | A |
| Manitouwadge 147.8 km | 65% | 13% | $71K | 24.3 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 Wawa, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Wawa
What is the average household income in Wawa?
Before tax, half the households in Wawa had more than $80,700 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Wawa get to work?
By car: 85% of commuters, 8.6% walk and 3% cycle; on census day 9% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Wawa?
21.7 minutes is the average trip, with 70% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 17% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Wawa work?
Most stay: 80% work in Wawa. The rest go first to Algoma, Unorganized, North Part (90) and White River (25).
How many jobs are there in Wawa?
The 2021 census counted about 1,085 people working in Wawa: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 122 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Wawa?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Northeast economic region at 6%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 9.6%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
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).