With 0.5 jobs for each resident in work, most of Saint-Norbert commutes out
Half the households in Saint-Norbert had more than $68,800 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. From Saint-Norbert, the drive or ride to work averages 30 minutes, with 9.2% going an hour or longer. In Saint-Norbert, 71% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
Where Saint-Norbert stands out on work
Lower incomes than most towns
At $68,800 before tax in 2020, the median household compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
Longer trips than most towns
Commutes take 30 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 9.2% 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.
Saint-Norbert earns D for jobs and income
Better than 11% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
What households in Saint-Norbert earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 70% of Canadian towns.
2 of the 6 other places of 2,500+ in the D'Autray census division have a higher median. Saint-Norbert’s median is 7% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). Incomes are for 2020, the first pandemic year, so CERB and other emergency payments are part of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
A longer commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 30 minutes from Saint-Norbert
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Only 22% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 27.6 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
More workers leave Saint-Norbert each day than arrive
230 residents of Saint-Norbert had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 120 people had theirs in Saint-Norbert, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Saint-Norbert’s residents in work leave it to work; Berthierville takes the most
Of those coming in, Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier supplies the most: 15.
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-Norbert work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Who in Saint-Norbert has a job
Of the 6 other places of 2,500 people or more in the D'Autray census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 60% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 55%. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. 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.
6.6% of commuters in Saint-Norbert walk, cycle or take transit
Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 19% against 21%. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 92% of commuters.
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.
41% more people are on EI in the D'Autray census division than in 2019
In January 2021 it reached 2,990, the most in the series and 3.1 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.6 are on EI. 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 counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Saint-Norbert alone, so this card uses the figure for the D'Autray census division.
The Walkability grade for Saint-Norbert: B
Better than 61% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Jobs and income in the places around Saint-Norbert
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Norbert | 71% | 8.7% | $69K | 30 min | D | B |
| Saint-Cuthbert 6.8 km | 76% | 6% | $62K | 29 min | C− | C |
| Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon 8 km | 77% | 6.9% | $59K | 28.7 min | C− | C |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois 10.1 km | 78% | 4.8% | $67K | 24.8 min | C+ | B |
| Saint-Gabriel 10.9 km | 64% | 9.1% | $42K | 23.8 min | D | A+ |
| Sainte-Élisabeth 11.7 km | 87% | 5% | $72K | 27.1 min | B | D− |
| Saint-Barthélemy 13.2 km | 78% | 6.7% | $61K | 31.2 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-Norbert, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Trip times. Commuters picked a band for their usual trip (under 15 minutes, 15 to 29, and so on). We place each person at the middle of their band, which lands a little above Statistics Canada’s own timed average.
- 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. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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. How many residents held a job in May 2021, set against how many were 15 to 64. It reads a little high where many people work past 65, since below the municipality the census gives no breakdown of workers by age.
- 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. Taken from the 2021 Census, which asked about 2020: wages, pensions, investment income and government transfers together, before income tax, for the median household.
- 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 Saint-Norbert
How many jobs are there in Saint-Norbert?
About 120 people had their usual place of work in Saint-Norbert at the 2021 census, 0.5 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 35 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Norbert?
The census put unemployment at 8.7% in May 2021, where the middle of Canadian towns was 9.9%. More recently, in October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had the Lanaudière economic region at 2.9%.
What is the average household income in Saint-Norbert?
Saint-Norbert’s middle household had $68,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Saint-Norbert get to work?
92% of commuters go by car, 6.6% walk. On census day 19% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Saint-Norbert?
On average 30 minutes; 22% take under 15 minutes and 9.2% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Saint-Norbert work?
Only 9.2% work in Saint-Norbert itself; the rest go first to Berthierville (85) and Joliette (35).
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).