Photo: Élie Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes put Fermont near the very top of Canadian towns
In Fermont, 85% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns. The census counted 2,140 people working in Fermont and 1,175 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Unemployment in Fermont stood at 2.4% on census day 2021, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Fermont
More people in work than most towns
85% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 81%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 2.4% 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 ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
At $174,100 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
2,140 people work in Fermont and 1,175 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 19.1 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 2.3% take an hour or more. 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Fermont: A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is household income; its weakest, trip times.
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 Fermont were working in 2021
A larger share in work than in 92% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 83%. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 63% in work in June 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 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.
$174,100 a year: the median household in Fermont
Against the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100), Fermont’s median is 135% above. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: higher than in almost any Canadian town.
Each working day, Fermont’s workforce swells by 77%
Fermont takes in some 16 workers for every resident it sends out. 95% 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.
At 19.1 minutes, commutes from Fermont are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Timed exactly, the average is 16.1 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 36%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 2.3% take an hour or more, against 5.3%.
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.
1,030 people come into Fermont to work, most from Québec and Saguenay
Of everyone working in Fermont, 48% come in from elsewhere; 65 make the 727 km trip from Québec. Port-Cartier is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 35 of them.
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 Fermont work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 23% of Fermont’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 6.1%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. By transit: 13% of commuters, well above the 1.5% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. The car takes 76% of commuters here, under 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
EI claims in the Sept-Rivières–Caniapiscau census division run 14% above their 2019 level
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.5 are on EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%. The highest month was January 2021: 2,610 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level.
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 Sept-Rivières–Caniapiscau 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).
Fermont on foot: a A grade
Better than 94% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Fermont and its neighbours: work and income
The nearest places to Fermont with figures are 19–20 km away.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fermont | 85% | 2.4% | $174K | 19.1 min | A+ | A |
| Wabush 19.1 km | 85% | 4.5% | $153K | 11.9 min | A+ | C |
| Labrador City 19.9 km | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | 12.4 min | A+ | 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 Fermont, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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.
- 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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 Fermont
How long is the commute from Fermont?
On average 19.1 minutes; 36% take under 15 minutes and 2.3% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Fermont work?
95% work in Fermont itself; of those who leave, the most go to Port-Cartier (35), then Labrador City (10).
How many jobs are there in Fermont?
About 2,140 people had their usual place of work in Fermont at the 2021 census, 1.8 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 71 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Fermont?
The 2021 census found 2.4% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec economic region, is 4.3% (June 2026).
What is the average household income in Fermont?
Fermont’s middle household had $174,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Fermont get to work?
76% of commuters go by car, 13% take public transit, 9.5% walk and 0.8% cycle. On census day 6.1% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).