Photo: Geai bleu · CC BY 3.0Saint-Jacques has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 71% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Saint-Jacques stood at 4.6% on census day 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. Jobs located in Saint-Jacques: 1,025, for 1,525 residents with a usual workplace. The median household in Saint-Jacques had $69,900 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Saint-Jacques: the figures worth knowing
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 60%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
4.6% 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 2.9% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
At $69,900 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Saint-Jacques: C+
Better than 36% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #332 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; its weakest, trip times.
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 Saint-Jacques have a job: 79% of 15-to-64s
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Montcalm census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 63% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 60%: many residents are past working age. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 60% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. 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.
What households in Saint-Jacques earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 67% of Canadian towns.
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 or more in the Montcalm census division, 3 have a higher median. Set beside Quebec’s towns, where the median is $74,100, Saint-Jacques sits 6% below. 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).
Saint-Jacques empties a little on a working day
1,525 residents of Saint-Jacques had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 1,025 people had theirs in Saint-Jacques, wherever they lived.
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. 24% 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.
76% of Saint-Jacques’ residents in work leave it to work; Joliette takes the most
Of those coming in, Sainte-Julienne supplies the most: 70.
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-Jacques work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
5.7% of commuters from Saint-Jacques go without a car
The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 12% against 21%. Few ride transit: 0.5%, 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
Longer than the middle of Canadian towns: commutes from Saint-Jacques average 28.1 minutes
7.4% spend an hour or longer getting to work; the middle of Quebec’s towns has 5.3%. Timed exactly, the average is 25 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 28% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
In the Montcalm census division, 58% more people receive EI than in 2019
For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.9 are on EI. In the twelve months to August 2026 the number rose by 4%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 4,590 people on EI, 3.3 times 2019’s average.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Montcalm census division, Saint-Jacques included.
The Walkability grade for Saint-Jacques: B+
Better than 70% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #284 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Out of 728 Canadian towns of 3,400 to 6,500, Saint-Jacques comes 480th on jobs and income
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornwallis Manitoba | 4,705 | 85% | 2.1% | $99K | A+ |
| 2 | New Maryland New Brunswick | 4,455 | 81% | 6.5% | $118K | A+ |
| 3 | South Tuxedo Manitoba | 3,629 | 85% | 6.8% | $110K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Saint-Antonin Quebec | 4,633 | 85% | 3.9% | $76K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Saint-Henri Quebec | 6,048 | 91% | 3.8% | $87K | A |
| 33 | Hautes-Plaines Quebec | 6,353 | 79% | 5.9% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 478 | Pontiac Quebec | 6,490 | 75% | 6.8% | $98K | C+ |
| 479 | Lord Roberts Manitoba | 5,104 | 73% | 8.5% | $74K | C+ |
| 480 | Saint-Jacques Quebec | 4,830 | 79% | 4.6% | $70K | C+ |
| 481 | Highway Valley Ontario | 4,469 | 64% | 16% | $110K | C+ |
| 482 | Inkster-Faraday Manitoba | 3,700 | 72% | 11% | $73K | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 728 | Chertsey Quebec | 5,678 | 64% | 8.6% | $58K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Saint-Jacques, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Saint-Jacques and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jacques | 79% | 4.6% | $70K | 28.1 min | C+ | B+ |
| Saint-Liguori 5 km | 82% | 4.1% | $80K | 28.3 min | B | D |
| Saint-Alexis 5.8 km | 79% | 7.2% | $84K | 33.1 min | C+ | B− |
| Sainte-Marie-Salomé 6.9 km | 77% | 8.6% | $71K | 29.2 min | C | C− |
| Crabtree 7.4 km | 79% | 6% | $69K | 26.4 min | C+ | B+ |
| Saint-Esprit 9.7 km | 86% | 5.6% | $69K | 29.2 min | B− | B |
| Sainte-Julienne 10.4 km | 73% | 7.1% | $74K | 37.5 min | D | 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 Saint-Jacques, 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. 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. Unemployed people over the labour force (in work or looking), aged 15 and over, on census day.
- Household income. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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.
- 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 Saint-Jacques
How long is the commute from Saint-Jacques?
On average 28.1 minutes; 28% take under 15 minutes and 7.4% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Saint-Jacques work?
24% work in Saint-Jacques itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Joliette (200), then Montréal (120).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Jacques?
About 1,025 people had their usual place of work in Saint-Jacques at the 2021 census, 0.7 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 186 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Jacques?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Lanaudière economic region at 2.9%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 4.6%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Saint-Jacques?
At $69,900 before tax in 2020, the median household in Saint-Jacques compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Saint-Jacques get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 0.5% take public transit, 3.9% walk and 1.3% cycle. On census day 12% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
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).