Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domainRoberval’s household incomes are lower than in 82% of Canadian towns
Census day 2021 found 6% of Roberval’s labour force without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. For 3.2% of commuters in Roberval, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 14.9 minutes. 73% of people aged 15 to 64 in Roberval had a job at the 2021 census, right at the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Roberval apart on jobs and income
Less unemployment than most towns
6% of the labour force was out of work at the 2021 census (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns); the Labour Force Survey had the area at 3.6% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $63,000 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
4,535 people work in Roberval and 3,385 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 14.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3.2% 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 Roberval: B−
Better than 49% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #274 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.
Work and the working-age population of Roberval
A smaller share in work than in 58% of Canadian towns.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. In October 2026, 59% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 55%. 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.
Household income in Roberval: $63,000 at the median
Roberval’s median is 15% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). The year is 2020: emergency benefits like CERB count in these incomes, and they raised the bottom of the range.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Roberval fills up on a working day: 31% more workers
About 2 people arrive to work in Roberval for each resident who goes out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
Time on the road to work from Roberval
Timed exactly, the average is 13.3 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.
2,057 people come into Roberval to work, most from Saint-Félicien and Saint-Prime
- Saint-Félicien415
- Saint-Prime260
- Chambord210
- Sainte-Hedwidge150
- Alma150
- Métabetchouan--Lac-à-la-Croix125
- Mashteuiatsh120
- Saguenay70
- Saint-François-de-Sales65
- Dolbeau-Mistassini65
Of everyone working in Roberval, 45% come in from elsewhere; 415 make the 22 km trip from Saint-Félicien. The main destination the other way is Saint-Félicien, with 300.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 8.1% of Roberval’s commuters
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 7.4% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The middle of Quebec’s towns has 4.2% walking; here, 7.4% do. The car is the way to work for 90% of commuters.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
5% more people are on EI in the Le Domaine-du-Roy census division than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 10%. At its peak, in January 2021, 2,600 people were on EI, 2.4 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.5 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Le Domaine-du-Roy 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).
Walkability in Roberval: graded A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #246 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Among Canadian towns of 6,900 to 13,300, Roberval ranks 341st of 650 for jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labrador City Newfoundland and Labrador | 7,965 | 79% | 5.5% | $146K | A+ |
| 2 | Silverwood Heights Saskatchewan | 8,153 | 81% | 5.8% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | North River Heights Manitoba | 7,228 | 82% | 8.4% | $143K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Boischatel Quebec | 9,250 | 85% | 4.8% | $118K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Chibougamau Quebec | 7,273 | 82% | 3.7% | $85K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 18 | Shannon Quebec | 7,088 | 81% | 3.7% | $113K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 339 | Saint-Rémi Quebec | 9,557 | 78% | 6% | $76K | B− |
| 340 | Otonabee-South Monaghan Ontario | 8,084 | 74% | 9.2% | $96K | B− |
| 341 | Roberval Quebec | 9,828 | 73% | 6% | $63K | B− |
| 342 | McNab/Braeside Ontario | 8,340 | 77% | 9.5% | $99K | B− |
| 343 | Rosenberg Ontario | 9,831 | 70% | 9.4% | $112K | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 650 | René-Goupil Quebec | 11,663 | 58% | 15% | $54K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Roberval, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Jobs and income in the places around Roberval
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberval | 73% | 6% | $63K | 14.9 min | B− | A− |
| Mashteuiatsh 6.9 km | 67% | 11% | $78K | 17.9 min | B− | D |
| Saint-Prime 12.6 km | 74% | 6.3% | $75K | 18.1 min | B | D |
| Chambord 17.2 km | 79% | 3.1% | $64K | 21.1 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 Roberval, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so 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. People in work of any age over residents aged 15 to 64 (2021 Census). The census doesn’t cross work with age below the municipality, so this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood has; retirees don’t weigh on it.
- 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.
- 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. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- 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 Roberval
What is the average household income in Roberval?
Before tax, half the households in Roberval had more than $63,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Roberval get to work?
90% of commuters drive, 7.4% walk and 0.7% cycle; 7.4% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Roberval?
The average commute is 14.9 minutes; 73% of trips take under 15 minutes and 3.2% an hour or more.
Where do people in Roberval work?
73% work in Roberval itself; of those who leave, the most go to Saint-Félicien (300), then Mashteuiatsh (110).
How many jobs are there in Roberval?
The 2021 census found about 4,535 people with their usual workplace in Roberval, or 1.3 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. In June 2026, 355 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Roberval?
The census put unemployment at 6% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean economic region at 3.6%.
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).