Photo: Williamborg · Public domainWorking-age people in Saint-Ours have jobs more often than in 70% of Canadian towns
Half the households in Saint-Ours had more than $75,400 in 2020, before tax, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at $85,900. Workers in Saint-Ours spend 33 minutes on the way to work on average, and 13% need an hour or more. 5.3% of the labour force in Saint-Ours was out of work at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Work in Saint-Ours, in a few figures
More people in work than most towns
At the 2021 census 79% of the 15-to-64s were in work (73% in the middle of Canadian towns); across all ages 15 and over, 54%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 4.3% in October 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 5.3%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 33 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 13% 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.
Saint-Ours grades C for jobs and income
Better than 30% 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.
Work for 79% of 15-to-64s in Saint-Ours
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Pierre-De Saurel census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 54% were working. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 62% in October 2026. Working or looking, 58% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Statistics Canada counted on 11 May 2021, with much of the country under pandemic rules: more people were out of work or at home than usual.
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.
At 33 minutes, commutes from Saint-Ours are longer than in the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 28.6 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Only 25% 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.
Saint-Ours empties a little on a working day
For every person who comes in to work, about 2 residents travel out. The job is inside the municipality for 23% of its commuters.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
78% of Saint-Ours’ residents in work leave it to work; Sorel-Tracy takes the most
- Sorel-Tracy95
- Massueville15
- Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel15
- Contrecoeur15
- Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel10
- Beloeil10
- Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu10
Of those coming in, Sorel-Tracy supplies the most: 95.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Household income in Saint-Ours
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 54% of Canadian towns.
That puts Saint-Ours 2% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. 3 of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Pierre-De Saurel census division have a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Leaving the car at home: 3.9% of commuters in Saint-Ours
Nearly everyone drives: 95% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Working at home: 20%, close to the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
33% more people are on EI in the Pierre-De Saurel census division than in 2019
That is about 4 people on EI for every 100 aged 15 to 64 in the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. At its peak, in January 2021, 2,900 people were on EI, 3.1 times the 2019 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). Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Saint-Ours alone, so this card uses the figure for the Pierre-De Saurel census division.
The Walkability grade for Saint-Ours: B−
Better than 51% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Saint-Ours and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Ours | 79% | 5.3% | $75K | 33 min | C | B− |
| Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu 1.1 km | 85% | 5.2% | $84K | 35.7 min | B− | C |
| Contrecoeur 6.4 km | 81% | 5.9% | $82K | 30.7 min | B− | B+ |
| Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel 9.8 km | 81% | 6% | $78K | 23.1 min | A− | D |
| Lanoraie 10.4 km | 77% | 6.1% | $77K | 32.4 min | C | B |
| Lavaltrie 11.1 km | 78% | 6% | $83K | 32.2 min | C+ | B− |
| Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu 11.1 km | 90% | 3.6% | $87K | 34.4 min | B | 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-Ours, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. A monthly household survey by Statistics Canada, reported for metro areas and economic regions only. It supplies a recent rate next to the 2021 census figure.
- In work. Working residents per resident of working age (15 to 64), from the 2021 Census.
- Unemployment. The share of people 15 and over in the labour force, working or looking for work, who had no job on census day in May 2021.
- Household income. The census median total income of households in 2020, before tax; a neighbourhood’s is estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups.
- Trip times. Our average assumes everyone in, say, the 15-to-29-minute band takes 22 minutes. Across all the bands that runs a shade above Statistics Canada’s measured average.
- 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. 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.
- Which towns we compare. Medians over towns and neighbourhoods of at least 2,500 residents. Whole cities would swamp them and reserves sit outside the rankings, so neither is in.
Questions about work in Saint-Ours
What is the unemployment rate in Saint-Ours?
The 2021 census found 5.3% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Montérégie economic region, is 4.3% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Saint-Ours?
At $75,400 before tax in 2020, the median household in Saint-Ours compares with $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Saint-Ours get to work?
By car: 95% of commuters, 1.6% walk and 2.3% cycle; on census day 20% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Saint-Ours?
33 minutes is the average trip, with 25% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 13% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Saint-Ours work?
23% work in Saint-Ours itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sorel-Tracy (140), then Saint-Hyacinthe (35).
How many jobs are there in Saint-Ours?
The 2021 census counted about 285 people working in Saint-Ours: 0.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 69 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).