Photo: Laval_City_Hall.JPG : Jean-Philippe Boulet derivative work: MTLskyline · CC BY 3.0The share of 15-to-64s with a job in Laval tops that of 64% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 8.6% of Laval’s labour force, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. From Laval, the drive or ride to work averages 30 minutes, with 7.8% going an hour or longer. The median household in Laval had $85,000 before tax in 2020, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900.
Work in Laval, in a few figures
Work near the middle
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 76% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 60%. In work ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 30 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.8% 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.
The measures behind a Jobs & income Grade for Laval
Four things will decide the grade, all from the census and all compared with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: who is in work at 15 to 64, household income at the median, unemployment and commuting time.
Laval has a slower trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 30 minutes
The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Only 20% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 26.6 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
On a working day, Laval loses more workers than it gains
The job is inside the municipality for 46% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
54% of Laval’s residents in work leave it to work; Montréal takes the most
- Montréal18,525
- Terrebonne6,065
- Blainville3,505
- Saint-Eustache3,015
- Mirabel2,935
- Mascouche2,560
- Boisbriand2,220
- Saint-Jérôme1,830
- Sainte-Thérèse1,530
- Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac1,175
- Montréal53,200
- Dorval2,480
- Terrebonne1,935
- Boisbriand1,785
- Saint-Eustache1,550
- Mont-Royal1,385
- Pointe-Claire1,385
- Mirabel1,225
- Blainville1,080
- Saint-Jérôme810
Inbound, the leader is Montréal (18,525).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
In Laval, 76% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 13 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Laval census division, 6 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
In October 2026, 62% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 66% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 60%: many residents are past working age. May 2021, when the census was taken, was a pandemic spring; unemployment has come down since, as the Labour Force Survey records.
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.
How Laval’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
9 of the 13 other places of 2,500+ in the Laval census division have a higher median. Laval’s median is 15% above the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). 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).
Across Laval’s neighbourhoods, household incomes run from $66K to $116K
Median household income in each of Laval’s 13 neighbourhoods: the highest is 1.8 times the lowest. The share of 15-to-64s in work runs from 69% in Chomedey to 80% in Duvernay.
| Neighbourhood | People | Household income | In work, 15–64 | Average trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chomedey | 81,813 | $65,700 | 69% | 28.1 min |
| Fabreville | 48,457 | $94,700 | 77% | 29.2 min |
| Laval-des-Rapides | 41,971 | $67,300 | 74% | 30.4 min |
| Sainte-Dorothée | 38,183 | $116,200 | 78% | 28.5 min |
| Le Boisé Champêtre | 37,891 | $90,300 | 75% | 28.1 min |
| Duvernay | 37,460 | $110,500 | 80% | 31.6 min |
| Sainte-Rose | 37,408 | $110,600 | 80% | 29.3 min |
| Vimont | 31,166 | $91,000 | 78% | 29.4 min |
| Auteuil | 27,843 | $107,500 | 78% | 32.6 min |
| Saint-François | 15,338 | $96,900 | 76% | 35.4 min |
| Saint-Vincent-de-Paul | 15,194 | $74,800 | 73% | 31.2 min |
| Pont-Viau | 14,608 | $69,200 | 72% | 30.1 min |
| Laval-Ouest | 11,034 | $86,600 | 73% | 31.9 min |
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: each neighbourhood summed from its dissemination areas; incomes are 2020’s.
Laval gets to work without a car for 15% of commuters
By transit: 11% of commuters, well above the 1.5% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 84% against 90%. Working at home: 23% here, 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).
EI claims in the Laval census division run 43% above their 2019 level
The highest month was January 2021: 23,950 people, 5 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 2.8 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 6%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Laval 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).
Neighbouring places to Laval, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laval | 76% | 8.6% | $85K | 30 min | — | — |
| Laval-des-Rapides 2.9 km | 74% | 9.8% | $67K | 30.4 min | D | A+ |
| Chomedey 3 km | 69% | 12% | $66K | 28.1 min | D | A+ |
| Le Boisé Champêtre 3.4 km | 75% | 9.4% | $90K | 28.1 min | B− | A |
| Pont-Viau 3.8 km | 72% | 8.9% | $69K | 30.1 min | D | A+ |
| Vimont 4.1 km | 78% | 7.1% | $91K | 29.4 min | B | A+ |
| Sainte-Rose 4.9 km | 80% | 6.4% | $111K | 29.3 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 Laval, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- In work. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- 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. 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.
- Where people commute. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- Employment Insurance. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada’s monthly survey, published for metro areas and economic regions rather than towns: it gives a current rate beside the census’s 2021 one.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Laval
What is the average household income in Laval?
Laval’s middle household had $85,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Laval get to work?
84% of commuters drive, 11% take public transit, 2.7% walk and 0.5% cycle; 23% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Laval?
The average commute is 30 minutes; 20% of trips take under 15 minutes and 7.8% an hour or more.
Where do people in Laval work?
46% work in Laval itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Montréal (53,200), then Dorval (2,480).
How many jobs are there in Laval?
The 2021 census found about 124,940 people with their usual workplace in Laval, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 13,650 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Laval?
The 2021 census found 8.6% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Montréal metro area, is 6.9% (October 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). 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).