Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainThe share of 15-to-64s with a job in Tignish tops that of 79% of Canadian towns
545 people have their usual place of work in Tignish, against 580 residents who travel to a job. Median household income in Tignish was $87,000 in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. When the 2021 census was taken, 15% of people in Tignish who wanted a job had none, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Tignish’s work numbers say
More people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 61% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 81%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
15% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.8% last an hour or longer. 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 Tignish earn A+
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, household income.
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.
In Tignish, 81% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
All 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Prince census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 71% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 61%: many residents are past working age. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Tignish has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 16.4 minutes
Trips under 15 minutes: 59%, more than the 40% in the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. An hour or more: 2.8% of commuters, close to the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 14.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns, the average commute is 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.
Each working day, more people leave Tignish for work than come in
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 Tignish’s residents in work leave it to work; Tignish takes the most
- Tignish145
- Alberton60
- St. Felix45
- Miminegash35
- Alberton30
- Tignish Shore20
- O'Leary20
- Tignish185
- Alberton90
- O'Leary35
- O'Leary25
- Alberton25
- Summerside10
- Lot 11 and Area10
- Fort McMurray10
Inbound, the leader is Tignish (145).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Tignish’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 70% of Canadian towns.
Tignish’s median is 6% above the middle of Prince Edward Island’s towns ($82,000). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Prince census division has a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
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, 2.8% of Tignish’s commuters get to work
Home was the workplace for 5.8%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.1%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 96% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Prince census division, 5% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 12%. February 2021 was the busiest month, with 8,480 people on EI, 1.7 times 2019’s average. Roughly 10.5 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Tignish alone, so this card uses the figure for the Prince census division.
Tignish grades C− for walkability
Better than 22% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Neighbouring places to Tignish, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tignish | 81% | 15% | $87K | 16.4 min | A+ | C− |
| Miminegash 15.9 km | 61% | 21% | $65K | 24.2 min | D | D− |
| Alberton 18.8 km | 71% | 10% | $54K | 18 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 Tignish, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Tignish
What is the average household income in Tignish?
The census puts Tignish at $87,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Tignish get to work?
96% of commuters go by car, 1.1% take public transit and 1.7% walk. On census day 5.8% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Tignish?
On average 16.4 minutes; 59% take under 15 minutes and 2.8% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Tignish work?
30% work in Tignish itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Tignish (185), then Alberton (90).
How many jobs are there in Tignish?
About 545 people had their usual place of work in Tignish at the 2021 census, 0.9 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 48 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Tignish?
At the 2021 census, unemployment stood at 15%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
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).