Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Whitby earn more than those in 97% of Canadian towns
Home was the workplace for 35% of its workers in May 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. For 15% of commuters in Whitby, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 33.3 minutes. In Whitby, 71% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Whitby
Higher incomes than most towns
The median household had $122,600 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 33.3 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 15% take an hour or more. The trip to work ↓
Many work from home
On census day, 35% of those in work were working at home; the middle of Canadian towns is 21%. Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Whitby earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 37% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #460 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.
Before tax, the median household in Whitby had $122,600
Whitby’s median is 34% above the middle of Ontario’s towns ($91,600). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Durham census division has 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).
Commuting times in Whitby
Only 25% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 30.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Ontario’s towns averages 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.
Without a car, 8.7% of Whitby’s commuters get to work
88% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Ontario’s towns. Transit takes 6% of commuters, above the 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.
On a working day, Whitby loses more workers than it gains
35,000 residents of Whitby had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 29,605 people had theirs in Whitby, wherever they lived.
33% 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.
67% of Whitby’s residents in work leave it to work; Toronto takes the most
- Oshawa7,315
- Bowmanville3,565
- Ajax1,925
- Toronto1,320
- Pickering880
- Lindsay510
- Port Perry450
- Markham285
- Port Hope185
- Hamilton150
- Toronto8,910
- Oshawa3,745
- Ajax2,525
- Pickering2,305
- Markham1,675
- Bowmanville1,035
- Vaughan605
- Mississauga530
- Richmond Hill290
- Port Perry260
Of those coming in, Oshawa supplies the most: 7,315.
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 Whitby work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
In and out of work in Whitby
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Durham census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 59% of residents 15 and over were in work. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 67%. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
EI claims in the Durham census division run 44% above their 2019 level
The count topped out in February 2021 at 38,290 people, 3.2 times the 2019 average. That works out to around 4.6 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Durham census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Whitby earns A for walkability
Better than 86% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #454 of 866 in Ontario.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Whitby is 22nd among 30 Canadian towns of 113,700 to 219,300
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lévis Quebec | 160,882 | 84% | 5.3% | $84K | A |
| 2 | Saanich British Columbia | 126,011 | 77% | 6.8% | $93K | A |
| 3 | Kelowna British Columbia | 167,654 | 78% | 7.9% | $83K | A |
| 4 | Burlington Ontario | 197,737 | 76% | 11% | $110K | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Guelph Ontario | 160,760 | 74% | 11% | $93K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Waterloo Ontario | 142,450 | 68% | 12% | $94K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 20 | Trois-Rivières Quebec | 149,934 | 75% | 6.6% | $61K | C+ |
| 21 | Milton Ontario | 157,345 | 71% | 11% | $126K | C+ |
| 22 | Whitby Ontario | 162,413 | 71% | 12% | $123K | C+ |
| 23 | Pickering Ontario | 118,378 | 71% | 13% | $119K | C |
| 24 | Barrie Ontario | 174,469 | 70% | 13% | $93K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Oshawa Ontario | 213,592 | 64% | 15% | $86K | D |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Whitby, and others among Ontario’s towns.
Work in and around Whitby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitby | 71% | 12% | $123K | 33.3 min | C+ | A |
| Oshawa 7.1 km | 64% | 15% | $86K | 32.3 min | D | A |
| Ajax 8.5 km | 69% | 13% | $119K | 34.8 min | C | A |
| Pickering 15 km | 71% | 13% | $119K | 34.3 min | C | A |
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 Whitby, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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 Whitby
Where do people in Whitby work?
Only 33% work in Whitby itself; the rest go first to Toronto (8,910) and Oshawa (3,745).
How many jobs are there in Whitby?
The 2021 census found about 29,605 people with their usual workplace in Whitby, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 4,002 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Whitby?
At the 2021 census 12% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Oshawa metro area, gives 8.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Whitby?
The census puts Whitby at $122,600 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Whitby get to work?
88% of commuters drive, 6% take public transit, 2.5% walk and 0.2% cycle; 35% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Whitby?
The average commute is 33.3 minutes; 25% of trips take under 15 minutes and 15% 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).