Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 4.0Sainte-Barbe has 0.2 jobs for every resident in work, so most commute out
Of everyone in Sainte-Barbe working or looking for work in May 2021, 5.5% were unemployed; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Workers in Sainte-Barbe spend 31.7 minutes on the way to work on average, and 11% need an hour or more. Before tax, the typical household in Sainte-Barbe brought in $78,900 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The short version on work in Sainte-Barbe
Less unemployment than most towns
5.5% 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 4.3% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Longer trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 31.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 11% 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.
On jobs and income, Sainte-Barbe grades C
Better than 28% 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.
76% of working-age people in Sainte-Barbe have jobs
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Le Haut-Saint-Laurent census division, 2 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 56% were working. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 62% in October 2026. Add those looking for a job to those with one, and 59% of residents 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
The length of the trip to work in Sainte-Barbe
In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 19%, fewer than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 27.7 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.
A commuter town: Sainte-Barbe sends out more workers than it takes in
455 residents of Sainte-Barbe had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 100 people had theirs in Sainte-Barbe, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 7 residents going out. Of those who commute, 8.8% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Sainte-Barbe’s residents in work leave it to work; Salaberry-de-Valleyfield takes the most
In the other direction the biggest source is Saint-Anicet, with 25.
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 Sainte-Barbe work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Sainte-Barbe
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 53% of Canadian towns.
That puts Sainte-Barbe 6% above the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. No other place of 2,500 or more in the Le Haut-Saint-Laurent census division has a higher median. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 2.4% of Sainte-Barbe’s commuters
Only 17% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%. The car is the way to work for 95% 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.
In the Le Haut-Saint-Laurent census division, 33% more people receive EI than in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 2%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,430 people on EI, 3 times 2019’s average. Roughly 4.8 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Le Haut-Saint-Laurent 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).
Sainte-Barbe on foot: a D grade
Better than 10% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How the places next to Sainte-Barbe compare on work
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Barbe | 76% | 5.5% | $79K | 31.7 min | C | D |
| Saint-Zotique 7.6 km | 83% | 5% | $87K | 28.5 min | B+ | C |
| Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka 8.5 km | 77% | 6.3% | $81K | 27.4 min | B− | C− |
| Godmanchester 8.7 km | 78% | 7.6% | $64K | 26.6 min | C | C− |
| Les Coteaux 10.1 km | 83% | 4% | $80K | 27.1 min | B | C+ |
| Huntingdon 10.9 km | 64% | 9.6% | $50K | 25.5 min | D | A+ |
| Rivière-Beaudette 11.1 km | 80% | 4.1% | $88K | 31.2 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 Sainte-Barbe, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Sainte-Barbe
How do people in Sainte-Barbe get to work?
95% of commuters go by car, 2.4% walk. On census day 17% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Sainte-Barbe?
On average 31.7 minutes; 19% take under 15 minutes and 11% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Sainte-Barbe work?
8.8% work in Sainte-Barbe itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (195), then Montréal (45).
How many jobs are there in Sainte-Barbe?
About 100 people had their usual place of work in Sainte-Barbe at the 2021 census, 0.2 for each working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 65 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sainte-Barbe?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 5.5% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Montérégie economic region at 4.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Sainte-Barbe?
Before tax, half the households in Sainte-Barbe had more than $78,900 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
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).