Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bedford are lower than in 95% of Canadian towns
Jobs were held by 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Bedford in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. Bedford is the usual workplace of 1,365 people, and 825 of its own residents commute to a job. Unemployment in Bedford stood at 6.6% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
The work numbers behind Bedford
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 4.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 6.6%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half of households had more than $55,400 before tax in 2020, where the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 1,365 jobs based in Bedford and 825 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 21.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4% 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.
On jobs and income, Bedford grades C
Better than 33% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #347 of 507 in Quebec.
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.
Who in Bedford has a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Brome-Missisquoi census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting retirees, 53% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 57% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
The median household in Bedford had $55,400 in 2020
That puts Bedford 25% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Brome-Missisquoi census division has a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
On a working day Bedford gains 58% in workers
Bedford takes in some 2 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 44% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 21.4 minutes from Bedford
An hour or more: 4% of commuters, under the 5.3% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.3 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 49% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns.
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.
1,003 people come into Bedford to work, most from Farnham and Cowansville
- Farnham120
- Cowansville95
- Dunham90
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu90
- Saint-Armand80
- Bedford80
- Saint-Ignace-de-Stanbridge45
- Pike River35
- Granby35
- Stanbridge Station30
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu115
- Bedford60
- Cowansville50
- Stanbridge Station35
- Farnham35
- Saint-Armand20
- Stanbridge East15
- Dunham15
- Bromont15
- Pike River10
Going the other way, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is the biggest single destination (115).
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 Bedford work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 15% of commuters in Bedford
The middle of Quebec’s towns has 4.2% walking; here, 13% do. 83% drive to work, fewer than the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Transit barely figures here, against 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.
In the Brome-Missisquoi census division, 49% more people receive EI than in 2019
The count topped out in January 2021 at 3,320 people, 3.7 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%.
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 Brome-Missisquoi census division, Bedford included.
Bedford earns A+ for walkability
Better than 98% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #95 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bedford is 344th among 527 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 11 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 342 | Beausejour Manitoba | 3,565 | 79% | 10% | $71K | C |
| 343 | Ekota Alberta | 2,509 | 65% | 17% | $95K | C |
| 344 | Bedford Quebec | 2,845 | 76% | 6.6% | $55K | C |
| 345 | Lacolle Quebec | 2,806 | 80% | 5.3% | $72K | C |
| 346 | Albany Alberta | 3,015 | 36% | 10% | $91K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 527 | 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 Bedford, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Bedford
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 76% | 6.6% | $55K | 21.4 min | C | A+ |
| Saint-Armand 10.6 km | 91% | 8.6% | $66K | 28.2 min | B− | B− |
| Sainte-Sabine 13.6 km | 81% | 3.3% | $91K | 25.9 min | A− | C− |
| Venise-en-Québec 14.5 km | 74% | 9.5% | $68K | 34.8 min | D | C+ |
| Dunham 15.9 km | 87% | 4.4% | $77K | 23.6 min | A− | C− |
| Saint-Alexandre 17 km | 85% | 3.7% | $90K | 29.2 min | A− | B− |
| Frelighsburg 17.1 km | 87% | 4.2% | $71K | 27.1 min | B | 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 Bedford, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- 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. 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Bedford
How many jobs are there in Bedford?
Some 1,365 people worked in Bedford at the 2021 census: 1.7 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 102 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Bedford?
At the 2021 census 6.6% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Montérégie economic region, gives 4.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Bedford?
Bedford’s middle household had $55,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Bedford get to work?
Driving takes 83% of commuters to work, 13% walk and 2% cycle, and on census day 9.9% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Bedford?
About 21.4 minutes on average, with 49% under a quarter-hour and 4% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Bedford work?
44% work in Bedford itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (115), then Bedford (60).
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).