Photo: Vintotal · CC BY-SA 3.0Working-age people in Chapais have jobs less often than in 60% of Canadian towns
5.6% of the labour force in Chapais was out of work at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. The average trip to work from Chapais is 19.8 minutes; 4.7% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Before tax, the typical household in Chapais brought in $79,100 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Chapais
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 5.6% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 4.3% in June 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 685 jobs based in Chapais and 595 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 19.8 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.7% 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.
Chapais grades B for jobs and income
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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.
Work for 73% of 15-to-64s in Chapais
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nord-du-Québec census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 61%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in June 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 64%. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
Each working day, Chapais’ workforce swells by 14%
Chapais takes in some 2 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 71% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
The length of the trip to work in Chapais
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 18.2 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 63%, 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.
264 people come into Chapais to work, most from Chibougamau and Eeyou Istchee Baie-James
- Chibougamau130
- Eeyou Istchee Baie-James15
- Oujé-Bougoumou15
39% of the people who work in Chapais live outside it, 100 of them in Chibougamau, 38 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Chibougamau (130).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Earnings at home in Chapais: households
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 54% of Canadian towns.
That puts Chapais 7% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Nord-du-Québec census division has a higher median. Pandemic support paid in 2020, CERB first among it, is 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).
Without a car, 16% of Chapais’ commuters get to work
Fewer drive than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 77% against 90%. Home was the workplace for 6.6%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, 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).
In the Nord-du-Québec census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
In July 2021 it reached 1,810, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. That is about 2.5 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 10%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Nord-du-Québec census division. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Chapais earns A for walkability
Better than 90% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Chapais
Chapais has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 38–100 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapais | 73% | 5.6% | $79K | 19.8 min | B | A |
| Chibougamau 38 km | 82% | 3.7% | $85K | 15.3 min | A+ | A |
| Eeyou Istchee Baie-James 57.2 km | 62% | 7.4% | $91K | 22.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Waswanipi 81.2 km | 59% | 8.1% | $113K | 16.9 min | B+ | — |
| Mistissini 99.5 km | 63% | 6.2% | $109K | 12.2 min | A− | 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 Chapais, 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. 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- 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. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- 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. 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 Chapais
What is the unemployment rate in Chapais?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 5.6% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec economic region at 4.3% in June 2026.
What is the average household income in Chapais?
The census puts Chapais at $79,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Chapais get to work?
By car: 77% of commuters, 16% walk; on census day 6.6% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Chapais?
19.8 minutes is the average trip, with 63% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 4.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Chapais work?
Most stay: 71% work in Chapais. The rest go first to Chibougamau (130) and Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (15).
How many jobs are there in Chapais?
The 2021 census counted about 685 people working in Chapais: 1.2 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 61 businesses with employees in June 2026.
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).