Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Messines has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.4 for each
Commutes from Messines average 21.9 minutes, and 5.9% take an hour or more. Census day 2021 found 6.7% of Messines’ labour force without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Half the households in Messines had more than $67,100 in 2020, before tax, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Messines
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6.7% 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 $67,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 5.9% 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 Messines: C
Better than 28% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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 Messines have a job: 70% of 15-to-64s
A smaller share in work than in 73% of Canadian towns.
53% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 48% of residents 15 and over were in work. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 58% in October 2026. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
What households in Messines earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 73% of Canadian towns.
That puts Messines 9% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up 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).
Commuting times in Messines
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 29% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.3 minutes.
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.
Each working day, more people leave Messines for work than come in
450 residents of Messines had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 180 people had theirs in Messines, wherever they lived.
About 4 residents leave for work for each person who comes in. The job is inside the municipality for 21% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
79% of Messines’ residents in work leave it to work; Maniwaki takes the most
- Maniwaki25
- Déléage15
- Gatineau10
- Gracefield10
- Sainte-Thérèse-de-la-Gatineau10
- Egan-Sud10
- Maniwaki215
- Egan-Sud45
- Gracefield25
- Kitigan Zibi25
- Kazabazua10
- Bouchette10
- Bois-Franc10
- Dolbeau-Mistassini10
Maniwaki sends the largest group the other way, 25 people.
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 Messines work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Walking, cycling or transit: 1.7% of Messines’ commuters
Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 96% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 14% against 21%.
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 La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau census division run 28% above their 2019 level
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. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 3%.
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 La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau 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 Messines on foot earns C−
Better than 18% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Messines compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messines | 70% | 6.7% | $67K | 21.9 min | C | C− |
| Kitigan Zibi 11.1 km | 50% | 20% | $45K | 16.9 min | D | D− |
| Maniwaki 14.7 km | 68% | 8.7% | $50K | 14.9 min | C | A |
| Déléage 15.5 km | 71% | 10% | $60K | 22.8 min | C− | D− |
| Gracefield 18 km | 69% | 6.9% | $57K | 32.9 min | D− | 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 Messines, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. 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. 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. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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 Messines
What is the average household income in Messines?
At $67,100 before tax in 2020, the median household in Messines compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Messines get to work?
Driving takes 96% of commuters to work, 1.7% walk, and on census day 14% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Messines?
About 21.9 minutes on average, with 29% under a quarter-hour and 5.9% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Messines work?
Only 21% work in Messines itself; the rest go first to Maniwaki (215) and Egan-Sud (45).
How many jobs are there in Messines?
In June 2026, 57 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Messines?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 6.7% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Outaouais economic region at 6.4% in 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) · 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).