Photo: Andrijko Z. · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Kitigan Zibi are among the lowest of any Canadian town
The 2021 census put unemployment in Kitigan Zibi at 20%; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. From Kitigan Zibi, the drive or ride to work averages 16.9 minutes, with 6.2% going an hour or longer. Jobs were held by 50% of people aged 15 to 64 in Kitigan Zibi in 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Kitigan Zibi: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 50% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 39%. In work ↓
More unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 20% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 6.4% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $45,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
270 people work in Kitigan Zibi and 245 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 16.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 6.2% 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.
Kitigan Zibi grades D for jobs and income
Better than 14% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Kitigan Zibi were working in 2021
A smaller share in work than in 98% of Canadian towns.
The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 58% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 49% 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.
Household income in Kitigan Zibi: $45,300 at the median
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Kitigan Zibi is 39% below it. 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).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
Kitigan Zibi fills up on a working day: 8% more workers
The job is inside the municipality for 69% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
How long the commute from Kitigan Zibi takes
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 15.1 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 66%, 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.
102 people come into Kitigan Zibi to work, most from Maniwaki and Messines
Of everyone working in Kitigan Zibi, 38% come in from elsewhere; 30 make the 4 km trip from Maniwaki. The main destination the other way is Maniwaki, with 50.
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: 0% of Kitigan Zibi’s commuters
Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 95% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 15% worked at home on census day, against 21% 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).
28% more people are on EI in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 3%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 1,700 people, 2.3 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 6.4 receive EI.
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 Vallée-de-la-Gatineau census division, Kitigan Zibi included.
Kitigan Zibi earns D− for walkability
Better than 5% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs near Kitigan Zibi: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitigan Zibi | 50% | 20% | $45K | 16.9 min | D | D− |
| Maniwaki 3.6 km | 68% | 8.7% | $50K | 14.9 min | C | A |
| Déléage 5.6 km | 71% | 10% | $60K | 22.8 min | C− | D− |
| Messines 11.1 km | 70% | 6.7% | $67K | 21.9 min | C | 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 Kitigan Zibi, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- 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. 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. The comparison pool is places of 2,500 people or more, towns or neighbourhoods inside cities, without whole cities or reserves, and we compare with its median.
- A First Nations reserve. Kitigan Zibi’s figures are its own, though Statistics Canada rounds or suppresses some for small communities. A reserve has no overall grade and sits in no ranked list.
Questions about work in Kitigan Zibi
How long is the commute from Kitigan Zibi?
About 16.9 minutes on average, with 66% under a quarter-hour and 6.2% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Kitigan Zibi work?
69% work in Kitigan Zibi itself; of those who leave, the most go to Maniwaki (50), then Val-d'Or (10).
How many jobs are there in Kitigan Zibi?
Some 270 people worked in Kitigan Zibi at the 2021 census: 1.1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 21 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Kitigan Zibi?
At the 2021 census 20% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Outaouais economic region, gives 6.4% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Kitigan Zibi?
Kitigan Zibi’s middle household had $45,300 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Kitigan Zibi get to work?
Driving takes 95% of commuters to work, and on census day 15% of those in work were at home.
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).