Photo: Marty Aligata · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Belfast are lower than in 64% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 11% of Belfast’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Belfast: 280, for 410 residents with a usual workplace. At the 2021 census, 76% of Belfast’s 15-to-64s were in work, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Belfast apart on jobs and income
Work near the middle
76% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 54%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $71,100 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Jobs & income in Belfast: graded C
Better than 29% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Household income in Belfast: $71,100 at the median
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 or more in the Queens census division, 7 have a higher median. The middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns is $82,000, and Belfast is 13% below it. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
More workers leave Belfast each day than arrive
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. Of those who commute, 30% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
70% of Belfast’s residents in work leave it to work; Charlottetown takes the most
- Three Rivers50
- Charlottetown25
- Stratford25
- Vernon River20
- Murray River, Part 110
- Murray River, Part 210
- West River10
- Charlottetown120
- Three Rivers90
- Vernon River15
- Stratford15
- Montague10
- Miltonvale Park10
- Brackley10
- Enfield10
In the other direction the biggest source is Three Rivers, with 50.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Belfast
Of the 8 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Queens census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 61% of residents that age. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 54% of residents 15 and over were in work. 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.
5.3% of commuters from Belfast go without a car
Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van. 21% worked at home on census day, about the same as in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.8%, 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).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 27.5 minutes from Belfast
Trips under 15 minutes: 24%, fewer than the 40% in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns: 2.7%. Timed exactly, the average is 24.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns averages 23.3 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.
In the Queens census division, 12% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 5.4 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%. March 2021 was the busiest month, with 7,760 people on EI, 2.1 times 2019’s average.
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). Belfast doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Queens census division.
Everyday places on foot in Belfast: B−
Better than 47% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Belfast, compared
Distances here run 17–24 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Belfast.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | 76% | 11% | $71K | 27.5 min | C | B− |
| Vernon River 16.9 km | 70% | 11% | $82K | 28.8 min | C− | C− |
| Murray River, Part 1 22.4 km | 70% | 15% | $76K | 27.9 min | C− | D− |
| Crossroads 22.5 km | 82% | 7.8% | $98K | 23.4 min | A | D |
| Stratford 23.6 km | 79% | 8% | $91K | 19.5 min | A+ | C |
| Three Rivers 24.3 km | 68% | 12% | $64K | 24.9 min | D | 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 Belfast, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Belfast
How long is the commute from Belfast?
On average 27.5 minutes; 24% take under 15 minutes and 2.7% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Belfast work?
30% work in Belfast itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Charlottetown (120), then Three Rivers (90).
How many jobs are there in Belfast?
About 280 people had their usual place of work in Belfast at the 2021 census, 0.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 65 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Belfast?
About 11%, by the census of May 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Belfast?
Before tax, half the households in Belfast had more than $71,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Belfast get to work?
94% of commuters go by car, 1.8% take public transit and 3.5% walk. On census day 21% 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, 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).