Photo: Veillg1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Plaisance has fewer jobs than residents in work: 0.6 for each
Getting to work from Plaisance takes 32.5 minutes on average, an hour or more for 12%. In 2020, a household at the middle of Plaisance had $69,400 before tax; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. At the 2021 census, Plaisance sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job.
Plaisance at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $69,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 32.5 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 12% 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 Plaisance: D
Better than 10% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
What households in Plaisance earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 68% of Canadian towns.
That puts Plaisance 6% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes 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).
Commuting times in Plaisance
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 20% 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 29.8 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.
Plaisance empties a little on a working day
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. The job is inside the municipality for 19% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
82% of Plaisance’s residents in work leave it to work; Gatineau takes the most
- Papineauville35
- Thurso25
- Gatineau25
- Montebello10
- Lochaber10
- Lochaber-Partie-Ouest10
- Gatineau100
- Papineauville55
- Saint-André-Avellin35
- Montebello20
- Thurso15
- Rockland10
- Ottawa10
Inbound, the leader is Papineauville (35).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Work and the working-age population of Plaisance
A smaller share in work than in 63% of Canadian towns.
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 58% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 60% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 54% of residents 15 and over were in work. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at home.
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.
Without a car, 0% of Plaisance’s commuters get to work
The car is the way to work for 94% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 18% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, 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).
40% more people are on EI in the Papineau census division than in 2019
At its peak, in January 2021, 1,600 people were on EI, 3 times the 2019 average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 4.2 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 5%.
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). Plaisance doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Papineau census division.
How walkable Plaisance is: C
Better than 32% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Plaisance
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaisance | 73% | 9.9% | $69K | 32.5 min | D | C |
| Papineauville 7.9 km | 77% | 9.3% | $65K | 26.2 min | C | B |
| Thurso 10.3 km | 72% | 10% | $63K | 32.6 min | D | A |
| Wendover 12.3 km | 76% | 6.4% | $84K | 36.3 min | C | B− |
| Saint-André-Avellin 12.8 km | 69% | 12% | $63K | 26.8 min | D | B |
| Rockland 14.2 km | 77% | 6.5% | $107K | 32.9 min | B− | B |
| Lochaber-Partie-Ouest 16.6 km | 76% | 5.9% | $108K | 29.9 min | B | C |
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 Plaisance, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Employment Insurance. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- 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.
- 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. 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Plaisance
How long is the commute from Plaisance?
32.5 minutes is the average trip, with 20% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 12% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Plaisance work?
Only 19% work in Plaisance itself; the rest go first to Gatineau (100) and Papineauville (55).
How many jobs are there in Plaisance?
Statistics Canada counted 32 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Plaisance?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 9.9% 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.
What is the average household income in Plaisance?
The census puts Plaisance at $69,400 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Plaisance get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters; on census day 18% of those in work worked from home.
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).