Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Cap-Chat have lower incomes than those in 98% of Canadian towns
60% of people aged 15 to 64 in Cap-Chat had a job at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%. The average trip to work from Cap-Chat is 16.4 minutes; 3% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Unemployment in Cap-Chat stood at 10% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
What sets Cap-Chat apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 60% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 36% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $50,800 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3% 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.
Cap-Chat grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #408 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.
How many in Cap-Chat were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 94% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 40%. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 36%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 45% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
Half the households in Cap-Chat had more than $50,800 in 2020
Cap-Chat’s median is 31% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). 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).
How long the commute from Cap-Chat takes
Timed exactly, the average is 15.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 54%, more than the 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.
More workers leave Cap-Chat each day than arrive
About 2 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. 44% 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.
56% of Cap-Chat’s residents in work leave it to work; Sainte-Anne-des-Monts takes the most
- Sainte-Anne-des-Monts95
- Les Méchins10
- Saint-Adelme10
- Matane10
- Nutashkuan10
- Sainte-Anne-des-Monts255
- Les Méchins10
- Matane10
- Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures10
- Montréal10
- Fermont10
- Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent10
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts sends the largest group the other way, 95 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 9.1% of Cap-Chat’s commuters
Only 17% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 1.5%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. On foot: 7.6% of commuters, well above the 4.2% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. 87% drive to work, fewer than the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the La Haute-Gaspésie census division run 21% below their 2019 level
Roughly 7.4 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,410 people on EI, 1.6 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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the La Haute-Gaspésie census division, Cap-Chat included.
The walkability of Cap-Chat: B+
Better than 72% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #269 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Cap-Chat places 318th of 390 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 10 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 316 | Electoral Area H, Fraser Valley British Columbia | 2,773 | 73% | 11% | $79K | C− |
| 317 | Tipaskan Alberta | 2,875 | 64% | 14% | $76K | C− |
| 318 | Cap-Chat Quebec | 2,519 | 60% | 10% | $51K | C− |
| 319 | Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon Quebec | 2,916 | 77% | 6.9% | $59K | C− |
| 320 | Lower Mount Royal Alberta | 3,136 | 74% | 14% | $58K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 390 | 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 Cap-Chat, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Work in the places around Cap-Chat
No closer places have figures: these lie 17–77 km from Cap-Chat.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap-Chat | 60% | 10% | $51K | 16.4 min | C− | B+ |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Monts 16.7 km | 63% | 14% | $55K | 14.1 min | C− | B |
| Sainte-Félicité 52.2 km | 69% | 8.6% | $57K | 25.7 min | D | D− |
| Matane 66.5 km | 74% | 7.7% | $56K | 13.4 min | C+ | A− |
| Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis 77.2 km | 54% | 18% | $52K | 23.1 min | D | 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 Cap-Chat, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- 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 Cap-Chat
How long is the commute from Cap-Chat?
The average commute is 16.4 minutes; 54% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3% an hour or more.
Where do people in Cap-Chat work?
44% work in Cap-Chat itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (255), then Les Méchins (10).
How many jobs are there in Cap-Chat?
The 2021 census found about 400 people with their usual workplace in Cap-Chat, or 0.7 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 61 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Cap-Chat?
The census put unemployment at 10% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine economic region at 10%.
What is the average household income in Cap-Chat?
Cap-Chat’s middle household had $50,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Cap-Chat get to work?
87% of commuters drive, 1.5% take public transit and 7.6% walk; 17% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).