Photo: Laroutedesvins · CC BY-SA 4.0Dunham has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 96% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Dunham had more than $76,900 in 2020, before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. The census counted 695 people working in Dunham and 1,260 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Out of work in May 2021: 4.4% of Dunham’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Dunham apart on jobs and income
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 87% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 63%. In work ↓
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 4.4%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
The Jobs & income grade for Dunham: A−
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #82 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Work for 87% of 15-to-64s in Dunham
All 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Brome-Missisquoi census division have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 63%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 62% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 66%. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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, more people leave Dunham for work than come in
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. 21% 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.
79% of Dunham’s residents in work leave it to work; Cowansville takes the most
- Cowansville190
- Granby55
- Farnham30
- Frelighsburg20
- Lac-Brome20
- Bedford15
- Stanbridge East15
- Sutton15
- Saint-Armand10
- Bromont10
Of those coming in, Cowansville supplies the most: 190.
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 Dunham work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Earnings at home in Dunham: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 50% of Canadian towns.
That puts Dunham 4% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. One of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the Brome-Missisquoi census division has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 4.5% of Dunham’s commuters
Only 16% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
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.
Dunham has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 23.6 minutes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 21.5 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 39% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 6.1%.
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.
EI claims in the Brome-Missisquoi census division run 49% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%. At its peak, in January 2021, 3,320 people were on EI, 3.7 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.3 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Brome-Missisquoi 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).
On getting around on foot, Dunham grades C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #462 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Dunham is 142nd among 795 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 140 | Sainte-Marie-Madeleine Quebec | 2,940 | 88% | 3.2% | $86K | A− |
| 141 | Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse Quebec | 2,739 | 85% | 3.9% | $81K | A− |
| 142 | Dunham Quebec | 3,632 | 87% | 4.4% | $77K | A− |
| 143 | Callander Ontario | 4,021 | 74% | 7.8% | $100K | A− |
| 144 | Jamieson Place Alberta | 3,813 | 78% | 10% | $122K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 795 | 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 Dunham, and others among Quebec’s towns.
The work picture around Dunham
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunham | 87% | 4.4% | $77K | 23.6 min | A− | C− |
| Cowansville 6.7 km | 75% | 6.1% | $59K | 20.1 min | C+ | B+ |
| Brigham 10.9 km | 86% | 5.8% | $76K | 25.2 min | B+ | D |
| Frelighsburg 11.6 km | 87% | 4.2% | $71K | 27.1 min | B | B− |
| Sutton 14.7 km | 83% | 6.6% | $66K | 24.1 min | B | C+ |
| Bedford 15.9 km | 76% | 6.6% | $55K | 21.4 min | C | A+ |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby 19 km | 84% | 2.6% | $95K | 24 min | A | 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 Dunham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. One way, on a usual day, from the census’s travel-time bands. Band midpoints overstate it a little next to the figure Statistics Canada times.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Dunham
Where do people in Dunham work?
Only 21% work in Dunham itself; the rest go first to Cowansville (395) and Bedford (90).
How many jobs are there in Dunham?
The 2021 census counted about 695 people working in Dunham: 0.6 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 143 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Dunham?
At the 2021 census 4.4% 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 Dunham?
The census puts Dunham at $76,900 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Dunham get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 4.5% walk; on census day 16% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Dunham?
23.6 minutes is the average trip, with 39% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 6.1% taking an hour or more.
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).