Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put Saint-Gabriel near the very bottom of Canadian towns
The average trip to work from Saint-Gabriel is 23.8 minutes; 7.6% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. In Saint-Gabriel, 64% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. Of everyone in Saint-Gabriel working or looking for work in May 2021, 9.1% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Work in Saint-Gabriel: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
Counting everyone 15 and over, 45% were in work at the 2021 census; among those aged 15 to 64 it was 64%, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $42,100 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
With 735 jobs based in Saint-Gabriel and 675 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
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 Saint-Gabriel earn D
Better than 7% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #458 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.
In and out of work in Saint-Gabriel
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the D'Autray census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 60% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 50%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 45% were working. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Before tax, the median household in Saint-Gabriel had $42,100
Against the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100), Saint-Gabriel’s median is 43% below. Every other place of 2,500 or more in the D'Autray census division has a higher median. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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.
Workers pour into Saint-Gabriel: 7% more on a working day
675 residents of Saint-Gabriel had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 735 people had theirs in Saint-Gabriel, wherever they lived.
36% of residents who commute work inside the municipality, against 70% in the middle of Canadian towns.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
495 people come into Saint-Gabriel to work, most from Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon and Mandeville
67% of the people who work in Saint-Gabriel live outside it, 195 of them in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, 3 km away. The main destination the other way is Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, with 105.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
2021 Census, people with a usual place of work: where residents of Saint-Gabriel work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Without a car, 12% of Saint-Gabriel’s commuters get to work
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 15% against 21%. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. On foot: 11% of commuters, well above the 4.2% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. The car takes 88% of commuters here, under the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
How long the commute from Saint-Gabriel takes
A quarter-hour or less for 49% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 21.7 minutes (Statistics Canada). The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
EI claims in the D'Autray census division run 41% above their 2019 level
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 2%. In January 2021 it reached 2,990, the most in the series and 3.1 times the 2019 average. That is about 4.6 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division.
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 D'Autray 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).
Everyday places on foot in Saint-Gabriel: A+
Better than 96% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #124 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,200, and where Saint-Gabriel sits
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 589 | South Portage Manitoba | 3,037 | 63% | 12% | $50K | D |
| 590 | Ferme-Neuve Quebec | 2,816 | 69% | 12% | $55K | D |
| 591 | Saint-Gabriel Quebec | 3,091 | 64% | 9.1% | $42K | D |
| 592 | Lake Cowichan British Columbia | 3,757 | 67% | 9% | $68K | D |
| 593 | Guybourg Quebec | 3,554 | 73% | 8.8% | $64K | D |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | 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-Gabriel, and others among Quebec’s towns.
How Saint-Gabriel compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Gabriel | 64% | 9.1% | $42K | 23.8 min | D | A+ |
| Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon 3 km | 77% | 6.9% | $59K | 28.7 min | C− | C |
| Saint-Norbert 10.9 km | 71% | 8.7% | $69K | 30 min | D | B |
| Mandeville 11.8 km | 67% | 13% | $53K | 32.9 min | D− | D |
| Saint-Damien 13.1 km | 70% | 8.1% | $59K | 32.9 min | D− | D |
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha 14.2 km | 72% | 7.6% | $64K | 28.3 min | D | C+ |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois 14.9 km | 78% | 4.8% | $67K | 24.8 min | C+ | 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-Gabriel, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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-Gabriel
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Gabriel?
At the 2021 census 9.1% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Lanaudière economic region, gives 2.9% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Saint-Gabriel?
Before tax, half the households in Saint-Gabriel had more than $42,100 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
How do people in Saint-Gabriel get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 11% walk and 1.2% cycle. On census day 15% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Saint-Gabriel?
On average 23.8 minutes; 49% take under 15 minutes and 7.6% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Saint-Gabriel work?
36% work in Saint-Gabriel itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon (105), then Saint-Félix-de-Valois (70).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Gabriel?
About 735 people had their usual place of work in Saint-Gabriel at the 2021 census, 1.1 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 92 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
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).