Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainWorking-age people in Rouyn-Noranda are more likely to have a job than in 72% of Canadian towns
Most commutes from Rouyn-Noranda take well under an hour: the average is 20.7 minutes, and 7.1% take 60 minutes or longer. Before tax, the typical household in Rouyn-Noranda brought in $75,600 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Rouyn-Noranda had an unemployment rate of 4.8% at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%.
Rouyn-Noranda and work: the main findings
More people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 79% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 62%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 2.5% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 4.8%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 7.1% last an hour or longer. 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.
Rouyn-Noranda grades A− for jobs and income
Better than 77% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #121 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.
How many in Rouyn-Noranda have a job: 79% of 15-to-64s
By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 65%. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 62%: many residents are past working age. 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.
Time on the road to work from Rouyn-Noranda
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.2 minutes. In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 53%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns.
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.
Rouyn-Noranda keeps its workforce on a working day
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. Of those who commute, 85% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
15% of Rouyn-Noranda’s residents in work leave it to work; Preissac takes the most
- Preissac790
- Saint-Jérôme225
- Val-d'Or200
- Eeyou Istchee Baie-James180
- Malartic170
- La Sarre95
- Amos90
- Kivalliq, Unorganized (NO)80
- Saguenay65
- Kirkland Lake55
Val-d'Or sends the largest group the other way, 150 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Rouyn-Noranda earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 53% of Canadian towns.
Rouyn-Noranda’s median is 2% above 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).
Rouyn-Noranda gets to work without a car for 10% of commuters
Only 12% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit takes 1.1% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. The middle of Quebec’s towns has 4.2% walking; here, 8.5% do. Fewer drive than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 86% against 90%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
5% fewer people are on EI in the Rouyn-Noranda census division than in 2019
January 2021 was the busiest month, with 2,550 people on EI, 2.9 times 2019’s average. Per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, about 3.3 receive EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 6%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the Rouyn-Noranda 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).
The Walkability grade for Rouyn-Noranda: A−
Better than 76% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #248 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 133 Canadian towns of 30,300 to 58,400, Rouyn-Noranda comes 16th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| 4 | Sainte-Julie Quebec | 30,981 | 84% | 4.7% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf Quebec | 37,164 | 83% | 6.2% | $83K | A |
| 7 | Boucherville Quebec | 41,910 | 82% | 5.2% | $111K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | LaSalle Ontario | 36,452 | 69% | 13% | $119K | A− |
| 15 | Mount Pleasant British Columbia | 37,091 | 83% | 7.6% | $87K | A− |
| 16 | Rouyn-Noranda Quebec | 43,270 | 79% | 4.8% | $76K | A− |
| 17 | Fort Saskatchewan Alberta | 30,575 | 74% | 11% | $113K | A− |
| 18 | Pointe-Claire Quebec | 37,437 | 78% | 8.4% | $93K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 133 | Est (Montréal-Nord) Quebec | 31,383 | 64% | 13% | $55K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Rouyn-Noranda, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Work next door to Rouyn-Noranda
Distances here run 49–67 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Rouyn-Noranda.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rouyn-Noranda | 79% | 4.8% | $76K | 20.7 min | A− | A− |
| Palmarolle 49.3 km | 86% | 5.2% | $77K | 28.2 min | B | B |
| Macamic 58.5 km | 71% | 8.5% | $75K | 25.1 min | C | B+ |
| Rivière-Héva 62 km | 77% | 5% | $101K | 27 min | B+ | C+ |
| La Sarre 65.4 km | 75% | 6% | $60K | 21.7 min | C | A |
| Malartic 67.5 km | 77% | 6.2% | $69K | 20.2 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 Rouyn-Noranda, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. A monthly count of Employment Insurance beneficiaries for the whole census division. It tracks the local job market, but it is not an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. Before-tax total income of the middle household for 2020, from the census. Neighbourhood medians are worked out from bracket counts, since Statistics Canada publishes none of their own.
- Trip times. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- Which towns we compare. Any town of 2,500 or more counts, and so does any city neighbourhood that size; the city as a whole and First Nations reserves don’t. The middle is the median.
Questions about work in Rouyn-Noranda
How long is the commute from Rouyn-Noranda?
About 20.7 minutes on average, with 53% under a quarter-hour and 7.1% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Rouyn-Noranda work?
Most stay: 85% work in Rouyn-Noranda. The rest go first to Preissac (790) and Saint-Jérôme (225).
How many jobs are there in Rouyn-Noranda?
Some 15,225 people worked in Rouyn-Noranda at the 2021 census: 0.9 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 1,368 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Rouyn-Noranda?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Abitibi-Témiscamingue economic region at 2.5%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 4.8%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Rouyn-Noranda?
The median household in Rouyn-Noranda had $75,600 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Rouyn-Noranda get to work?
Driving takes 86% of commuters to work, 1.1% take public transit, 8.5% walk and 0.7% cycle, and on census day 12% of those in work were at 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).