Photo: Steven.Pigeon · Public domainA larger share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Oka than in 74% of Canadian towns
For 8.7% of commuters in Oka, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 30.9 minutes. Before tax, the typical household in Oka brought in $86,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Census day 2021 found 6.7% of Oka’s labour force without a job, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What stands out about work in Oka
More people in work than most towns
80% of people aged 15 to 64 had a job at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; counting everyone 15 and over, retirees included, it was 61%. In work ↓
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 6.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 8.7% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Oka: B−
Better than 52% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #265 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
In Oka, 80% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Deux-Montagnes census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 62% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 61% of residents 15 and over were in work. 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.
Time on the road to work from Oka
Only 20% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 27.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 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.
A commuter town: Oka sends out more workers than it takes in
1,285 residents of Oka had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 945 people had theirs in Oka, wherever they lived.
It sends out some 2 workers for every one it takes in. Of those who commute, 21% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
79% of Oka’s residents in work leave it to work; Saint-Eustache takes the most
Inbound, the leader is Mirabel (80).
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 Oka work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Oka
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 68% of Canadian towns.
Against the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100), Oka’s median is 16% above. 2 of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Deux-Montagnes census division have 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).
Leaving the car at home: 6.2% of commuters in Oka
Few ride transit: 1.9%, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 90% of commuters. Only 18% worked at home on census day, against 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
39% more people are on EI in the Deux-Montagnes census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 rose by 1%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 6,100 people, 3.9 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.7 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
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). Oka doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Deux-Montagnes census division.
How walkable Oka is: B
Better than 62% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #330 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Oka places 357th of 746 on jobs and income among Canadian towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard Quebec | 3,018 | 85% | 4.5% | $83K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Havre-Saint-Pierre Quebec | 3,389 | 76% | 6.6% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 355 | Fort Macleod Alberta | 3,945 | 70% | 6.3% | $75K | B− |
| 356 | Baturyn Alberta | 4,796 | 70% | 15% | $96K | B− |
| 357 | Oka Quebec | 4,312 | 80% | 6.7% | $86K | B− |
| 358 | Melancthon Ontario | 3,581 | 78% | 7.8% | $100K | B− |
| 359 | North Cypress-Langford Manitoba | 3,234 | 66% | 5.6% | $93K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 746 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts Quebec | 3,190 | 61% | 11% | $50K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Oka, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Work in and around Oka
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oka | 80% | 6.7% | $86K | 30.9 min | B− | B |
| Kanesatake 3.7 km | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Saint-Joseph-du-Lac 6.7 km | 82% | 5.3% | $94K | 29.5 min | B+ | B |
| Hudson 6.8 km | 84% | 7.7% | $101K | 31.1 min | A− | B+ |
| Pointe-Calumet 7.2 km | 79% | 5.7% | $79K | 31.3 min | C+ | C+ |
| Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac 7.6 km | 73% | 9.9% | $138K | 29.3 min | B− | C+ |
| Vaudreuil-Dorion 9.8 km | 80% | 7.2% | $89K | 28.2 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 Oka, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. The census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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 Oka
Where do people in Oka work?
Only 21% work in Oka itself; the rest go first to Saint-Eustache (240) and Laval (145).
How many jobs are there in Oka?
About 945 people had their usual place of work in Oka at the 2021 census, 0.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 175 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Oka?
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 Montréal metro area at 6.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Oka?
Oka’s middle household had $86,000 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Oka get to work?
90% of commuters go by car, 1.9% take public transit, 3.4% walk and 0.9% cycle. On census day 18% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Oka?
On average 30.9 minutes; 20% take under 15 minutes and 8.7% take an hour or longer.
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).