Photo: Charny · CC BY-SA 3.0Maria at work: jobs, income and the commute
The census counted 1,240 people working in Maria and 795 residents commuting to a fixed workplace. Census day 2021 found 4.8% of Maria’s labour force without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. In 2020, a household at the middle of Maria had $72,800 before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Maria stands out on work
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 4.8% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 10%. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $72,800 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
A local job centre
1,240 people work in Maria and 795 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 19.8 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.7% 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.
Maria earns B for jobs and income
Better than 57% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #237 of 507 in Quebec.
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.
In Maria, 74% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
A smaller share in work than in 54% of Canadian towns.
In October 2026, 45% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. 54% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 51%. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
Earnings at home in Maria: households
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 59% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Maria is 2% below it. 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).
Every working day, Maria’s workforce grows by 48%
For every resident who leaves Maria for work, about 2 people come in. Of those who commute, 45% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Maria has a quicker trip to work than the middle of Canadian towns: 19.8 minutes
Long trips, an hour or more, are about as common as in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 4.7%. Timed exactly, the average is 16.8 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 48%, 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
880 people come into Maria to work, most from New Richmond and Carleton-sur-Mer
- New Richmond215
- Carleton-sur-Mer210
- Nouvelle85
- Bonaventure75
- Caplan75
- Cascapédia--Saint-Jules65
- Paspébiac40
- Saint-Siméon35
- Sainte-Anne-des-Monts20
- Saint-Alphonse15
Of everyone working in Maria, 71% come in from elsewhere; 215 make the 11 km trip from New Richmond. Going the other way, New Richmond is the biggest single destination (155).
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 Maria work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Maria gets to work without a car for 7.9% of commuters
The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%. Few ride transit: 1.6%, 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 Avignon census division, 23% fewer people receive EI than in 2019
That is about 8.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 13%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 1,960 people, 1.6 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Data for EI beneficiaries covers the Avignon 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).
Getting around Maria on foot earns B+
Better than 68% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #301 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Maria is 213th among 497 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 11 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 211 | Shuniah Ontario | 3,458 | 76% | 8.5% | $111K | B |
| 212 | Canossa Alberta | 3,246 | 71% | 9.8% | $125K | B |
| 213 | Maria Quebec | 2,770 | 74% | 4.8% | $73K | B |
| 214 | Malartic Quebec | 3,506 | 77% | 6.2% | $69K | B |
| 215 | Trillium Ontario | 2,967 | 74% | 13% | $117K | B |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Maria, and others among Quebec’s towns.
How Maria compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maria | 74% | 4.8% | $73K | 19.8 min | B | B+ |
| New Richmond 10.5 km | 69% | 7.4% | $65K | 16.5 min | C+ | B+ |
| Carleton-sur-Mer 12.2 km | 74% | 11% | $64K | 19.2 min | C+ | 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 Maria, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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. Who travels where, from the census: workers with a regular workplace, sorted by the municipality they live in and the one they work in.
- Employment Insurance. Statistics Canada counts EI beneficiaries each month by census division. Seasonal work makes it swing, so read it as a trend, not a jobless 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.
- In work. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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.
Questions about work in Maria
What is the unemployment rate in Maria?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 4.8% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine economic region at 10% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Maria?
At $72,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Maria compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Maria get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 1.6% take public transit, 4.7% walk and 1.6% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Maria?
On average 19.8 minutes; 48% take under 15 minutes and 4.7% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Maria work?
Only 45% work in Maria itself; the rest go first to New Richmond (155) and Carleton-sur-Mer (150).
How many jobs are there in Maria?
About 1,240 people had their usual place of work in Maria at the 2021 census, 1.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 121 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).