Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Vanier earn less than in almost any other Canadian town
Commutes from Vanier average 19.8 minutes, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns. At the 2021 census, Vanier sat at the middle of Canadian towns on work: 73% of 15-to-64s had a job. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 11% of Vanier’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Vanier at work: what stands out
Lower incomes than most towns
At $49,400 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 19.8 minutes; the middle of Canadian towns is 26. Getting 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 and income in Vanier earn C
Better than 25% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #373 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.
Median household income in Vanier: $49,400 in 2020
That puts Vanier 33% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. Of the 36 other places of 2,500 or more in the Québec census division, 32 have a higher median. Incomes here are 2020’s and include the pandemic payments, CERB among them, that propped up the lower end.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Before tax, 2020: lower than in almost any Canadian town.
24% of commuters from Vanier go without a car
By transit: 14% of commuters, well above the 1.5% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Home was the workplace for 16%, under the 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).
Who in Vanier has a job
Of the 36 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Québec census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 57% of residents that age. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 51% were working. In October 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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.
EI claims in the Québec census division run 36% above their 2019 level
Roughly 2.6 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 3%. The count topped out in January 2021 at 30,440 people, 4.8 times the 2019 average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Québec census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
On getting around on foot, Vanier grades A+
Better than almost every Canadian town on two measures together, #88 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Vanier is 452nd of 596 Canadian towns of 9,400 to 18,200
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Saanich British Columbia | 12,986 | 85% | 5.9% | $121K | A+ |
| 2 | Sillery Quebec | 13,950 | 81% | 6.2% | $120K | A+ |
| 3 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 4 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | L'Aéroport Quebec | 13,630 | 84% | 5.2% | $90K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 450 | Vallée-de-la-Lièvre Quebec | 15,388 | 75% | 7.6% | $73K | C |
| 451 | Fletchers Meadow North Ontario | 11,870 | 66% | 14% | $127K | C |
| 452 | Vanier Quebec | 13,494 | 73% | 11% | $49K | C |
| 453 | Bridgewater Nova Scotia | 9,989 | 68% | 12% | $57K | C |
| 454 | Lac-des-Fées Quebec | 10,075 | 71% | 10% | $62K | C |
| … | ||||||
| 596 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Vanier, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Vanier
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanier | 73% | 11% | $49K | 19.8 min | C | A+ |
| Saint-Sauveur 1.7 km | 73% | 9.7% | $49K | 21.3 min | C− | A+ |
| Saint-Roch 2.2 km | 72% | 8.4% | $48K | 21.1 min | C− | A+ |
| Lairet 2.2 km | 77% | 10% | $49K | 21.3 min | C | A+ |
| Vieux-Limoilou 2.2 km | 76% | 8.6% | $52K | 21.6 min | C | A+ |
| Saint-Sacrement 2.6 km | 79% | 7.4% | $62K | 21.2 min | B− | A+ |
| Montcalm 2.7 km | 80% | 9.7% | $70K | 20.7 min | B+ | A+ |
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 Vanier, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- 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. 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. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
- Neighbourhood figures. We add up Vanier’s dissemination areas for its census figures. Flows between places and timed averages exist only for the whole municipality: see Québec’s page.
Questions about work in Vanier
How do people in Vanier get to work?
73% of commuters go by car, 14% take public transit, 9% walk and 1.5% cycle. On census day 16% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How many jobs are there in Vanier?
Statistics Canada counts jobs for whole municipalities only; Québec has the total and the commuting flows.
What is the unemployment rate in Vanier?
The census put unemployment at 11% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Québec metro area at 4.5%.
What is the average household income in Vanier?
Vanier’s middle household had $49,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (Census Profile) · 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).