Photo: Interaction Qui Ltée · Public domainLabrecque has 0.2 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
The median household in Labrecque had $78,900 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Census day 2021 found 5.6% of Labrecque’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Most commutes from Labrecque take well under an hour: the average is 30.4 minutes, and 9.3% take 60 minutes or longer.
What sets Labrecque apart on jobs and income
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 3.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.4 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 9.3% 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.
On jobs and income, Labrecque grades C−
Better than 24% of Canadian towns 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.
Labrecque at work: 73% of people aged 15 to 64
None of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 52% were working. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Working or looking, 55% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
Commuting times in Labrecque
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 29.3 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 20% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
More of Labrecque’s workers leave each day than arrive
385 residents of Labrecque had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 70 people had theirs in Labrecque, wherever they lived.
About 30 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. Of those who commute, 15% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
85% of Labrecque’s residents in work leave it to work; Alma takes the most
No other place sends enough people to work in Labrecque to be counted.
- Alma190
- Saguenay70
- Saint-Nazaire20
- Saint-Ludger-de-Milot15
- Montréal10
- Saint-Ambroise10
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 Labrecque work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Labrecque
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
Labrecque’s median is 6% above the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). No other place of 2,500 or more in the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est census division has a higher median. Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
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 4.7% of Labrecque’s commuters
The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 8.5% against 21%. 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
In the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est census division, 5% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 1%. In January 2021 it reached 4,270, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.8 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 published for the Lac-Saint-Jean-Est census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Labrecque on foot: a C grade
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
The places around Labrecque, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labrecque | 73% | 5.6% | $79K | 30.4 min | C− | C |
| Saint-Nazaire 11 km | 83% | 5.1% | $80K | 25.6 min | B+ | D |
| L'Ascension-de-Notre-Seigneur 12.3 km | 72% | 5.6% | $73K | 25.7 min | C | B |
| Alma 16.6 km | 76% | 5.3% | $68K | 18.6 min | B− | B+ |
| Saint-Ambroise 18.3 km | 79% | 4.3% | $75K | 25.9 min | B− | 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 Labrecque, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- Where people commute. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Which towns we compare. Comparisons are with the median of Canadian towns and city neighbourhoods counting 2,500 people or more, reserves and entire cities excluded.
Questions about work in Labrecque
What is the unemployment rate in Labrecque?
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 Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean economic region at 3.6% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Labrecque?
Before tax, half the households in Labrecque had more than $78,900 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Labrecque get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 4.7% walk; on census day 8.5% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Labrecque?
30.4 minutes is the average trip, with 20% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 9.3% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Labrecque work?
Only 15% work in Labrecque itself; the rest go first to Alma (190) and Saguenay (70).
How many jobs are there in Labrecque?
In June 2026, 27 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).