Photo: Harfang · CC BY-SA 3.0More of Saint-Basile’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 69% of Canadian towns
Joblessness at the 2021 census: 6.2% of Saint-Basile’s labour force, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. 550 people have their usual place of work in Saint-Basile, against 860 residents who travel to a job. In 2020, a household at the middle of Saint-Basile had $69,500 before tax, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
What Saint-Basile’s work numbers say
More people in work than most towns
79% 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 58%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 6.2% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 4.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $69,500 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, its commuting tables, Employment Insurance and the Labour Force Survey.
Saint-Basile earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 44% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #291 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
In Saint-Basile, 79% of the working-age population has a job
Of the 7 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Portneuf census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 62% in October 2026. The labour force, people 15 and over with a job or seeking one, took in 62% of residents that age. Counting retirees, 58% of everyone aged 15 and over was working. These are census figures from May 2021, during COVID’s third wave; jobs have recovered since, which the Labour Force Survey shows.
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.
What households in Saint-Basile earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 67% of Canadian towns.
Saint-Basile’s median is 6% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). 4 of the 7 other places of 2,500+ in the Portneuf census division have a higher median. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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).
On a working day, Saint-Basile loses more workers than it gains
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. Of those who commute, 29% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
71% of Saint-Basile’s residents in work leave it to work; Québec takes the most
- Saint-Raymond80
- Québec55
- Pont-Rouge40
- Donnacona35
- Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne30
- Neuville20
- Portneuf20
- Saint-Léonard-de-Portneuf15
In the other direction the biggest source is Saint-Raymond, with 80.
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: 4.8% of Saint-Basile’s commuters
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).
A commute like the middle of Canadian towns: 25.4 minutes from Saint-Basile
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 35%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Long trips are rarer than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 2.9% take an hour or more, against 5.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 21.9 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
EI claims in the Portneuf census division run 29% above their 2019 level
In January 2021 it reached 3,450, the most in the series and 3.1 times the 2019 average. That is about 3.9 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 2%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries: the Portneuf 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 of Saint-Basile: B
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #342 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
For jobs and income, Saint-Basile is 305th of 553 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,900
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 11 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 303 | Eleanor Ontario | 3,805 | 66% | 14% | $119K | C+ |
| 304 | Munroe West Manitoba | 2,532 | 74% | 9.2% | $76K | C+ |
| 305 | Saint-Basile Quebec | 2,918 | 79% | 6.2% | $70K | C+ |
| 306 | Pembina Manitoba | 2,502 | 79% | 5.8% | $71K | C+ |
| 307 | Tumbler Ridge British Columbia | 2,663 | 73% | 7.7% | $100K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 553 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Saint-Basile, and others among Quebec’s towns.
The places around Saint-Basile, side by side
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Basile | 79% | 6.2% | $70K | 25.4 min | C+ | B |
| Portneuf 7.2 km | 78% | 6.8% | $64K | 24.3 min | C+ | B |
| Cap-Santé 8.1 km | 85% | 4.5% | $85K | 24.1 min | A | D |
| Pont-Rouge 9.8 km | 82% | 3.9% | $87K | 26.5 min | A− | C+ |
| Donnacona 11.6 km | 79% | 4.2% | $67K | 24.4 min | C+ | B |
| Saint-Raymond 14.8 km | 82% | 5.8% | $71K | 26.1 min | B− | B− |
| Deschambault-Grondines 16.9 km | 78% | 5.4% | $71K | 23.7 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 Saint-Basile, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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.
- 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. Monthly EI recipients across the census division: a pulse of the local job market rather than a measure of who is out of work.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Saint-Basile
What is the average household income in Saint-Basile?
The census puts Saint-Basile at $69,500 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Saint-Basile get to work?
94% of commuters go by car, 3.4% walk and 1.4% cycle. On census day 18% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Saint-Basile?
On average 25.4 minutes; 35% take under 15 minutes and 2.9% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Saint-Basile work?
29% work in Saint-Basile itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Québec (145), then Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures (80).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Basile?
About 550 people had their usual place of work in Saint-Basile at the 2021 census, 0.6 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 73 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Basile?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 6.2% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Capitale-Nationale economic region at 4.7% in October 2026.
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).