Photo: Emdx · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Mistissini earn more than those in 92% of Canadian towns
When the 2021 census was taken, 6.2% of people in Mistissini who wanted a job had none; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. An hour or more each way is the commute for 4.5% of workers in Mistissini; the average is 12.2 minutes. The 2021 census found 63% of working-age people in Mistissini employed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Jobs and income in Mistissini: what the figures say
Fewer people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 63% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 56%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 6.2% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by June 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 4.3%. Unemployment ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $108,800 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 12.2 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 4.5% 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.
Jobs & income in Mistissini: graded A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #88 of 507 in Quebec.
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.
Work and the working-age population of Mistissini
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nord-du-Québec census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 60%. 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.
$108,800 a year: the median household in Mistissini
Mistissini’s median is 47% above the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). Of the 4 other places of 2,500 or more in the Nord-du-Québec census division, 3 have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
The length of the trip to work in Mistissini
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 88% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 11.8 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.
The commute in and out of Mistissini balances out
Of those who commute, 83% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
17% of Mistissini’s residents in work leave it to work; Inukjuak takes the most
- Chibougamau65
- Montréal20
- Sherbrooke10
- Châteauguay10
- Saguenay10
- Chisasibi10
- Oujé-Bougoumou10
- Ottawa10
- Inukjuak60
- Oujé-Bougoumou40
- Lebel-sur-Quévillon15
- Puvirnituq15
- Chapais10
- Chibougamau10
- Kangirsuk10
- Ivujivik10
- Waswanipi10
- Waskaganish10
In the other direction the biggest source is Chibougamau, with 65.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
20% of commuters in Mistissini walk, cycle or take transit
On foot: 18% of commuters, well above the 4.2% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Fewer drive than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 75% against 90%. Home was the workplace for 5.3%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Few ride transit: 0.7%, 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).
About as many people are on EI in the Nord-du-Québec census division as in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 10%. In July 2021 it reached 1,810, the most in the series and 2.5 times the 2019 average. That is about 2.5 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Mistissini doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Nord-du-Québec census division.
Walking in Mistissini earns A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #206 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Mistissini ranks: 139th of 788 Canadian towns of 2,800 to 5,500
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| 2 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 3 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Saint-Elzéar Quebec | 2,842 | 90% | 3.8% | $89K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard Quebec | 3,018 | 85% | 4.5% | $83K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 137 | Meadows Manitoba | 3,822 | 80% | 4.3% | $95K | A− |
| 138 | Cameron Heights Alberta | 3,710 | 78% | 8.6% | $169K | A− |
| 139 | Mistissini Quebec | 4,067 | 63% | 6.2% | $109K | A− |
| 140 | West River Prince Edward Island | 4,155 | 82% | 7.3% | $94K | A− |
| 141 | Ogilvie Ridge Alberta | 5,218 | 79% | 11% | $121K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 788 | Saint-Côme Quebec | 2,810 | 58% | 14% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Mistissini, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Mistissini
Distances here run 66–145 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Mistissini.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistissini | 63% | 6.2% | $109K | 12.2 min | A− | A− |
| Chibougamau 65.9 km | 82% | 3.7% | $85K | 15.3 min | A+ | A |
| Chapais 99.5 km | 73% | 5.6% | $79K | 19.8 min | B | A |
| Eeyou Istchee Baie-James 144.9 km | 62% | 7.4% | $91K | 22.6 min | B− | 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 Mistissini, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Only people with a usual place of work are in it: those who work from home or have no fixed site are not. Home and work are both counted by municipality.
- 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. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- 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 Mistissini
How long is the commute from Mistissini?
The average commute is 12.2 minutes; 88% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.5% an hour or more.
Where do people in Mistissini work?
83% work in Mistissini itself; of those who leave, the most go to Inukjuak (60), then Oujé-Bougoumou (40).
How many jobs are there in Mistissini?
The 2021 census found about 1,190 people with their usual workplace in Mistissini, or 1 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 56 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Mistissini?
The census put unemployment at 6.2% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in June 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec economic region at 4.3%.
What is the average household income in Mistissini?
At $108,800 before tax in 2020, the median household in Mistissini compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Mistissini get to work?
75% of commuters drive, 0.7% take public transit, 18% walk and 0.7% cycle; 5.3% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
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).