Photo: ipatboy (Patrick) · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Sayabec are lower than in 95% of Canadian towns
Of Sayabec’s residents aged 15 to 64, 65% were employed when the 2021 census was taken, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%. From Sayabec, the drive or ride to work averages 20 minutes, with 5% going an hour or longer. Unemployment in Sayabec stood at 7.7% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
Work in Sayabec: the figures worth knowing
Fewer people in work than most towns
65% 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 45%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
The median household had $56,000 before tax in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Household income ↓
A local job centre
With 665 jobs based in Sayabec and 485 working residents, the ratio compares with 0.8 in the middle of Canadian towns. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 20 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 5% 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.
Sayabec grades C− for jobs and income
Better than 16% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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 Sayabec, 65% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
A smaller share in work than in 86% of Canadian towns.
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 49%. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 45% of residents 15 and over were in work. A more recent figure, for the wider area: 52% in work in October 2026, by the Labour Force Survey. The census caught the labour market on 11 May 2021, deep in the pandemic, so unemployment and working from home both ran above normal.
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 Sayabec had $56,000
Sayabec’s median is 24% below the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). Because 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, emergency benefits make up part of these before-tax incomes.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
On a working day Sayabec gains 33% in workers
Sayabec takes in some 2 workers for every resident it sends out. The job is inside the municipality for 51% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
A shorter commute than the middle of Canadian towns: 20 minutes from Sayabec
Trips under 15 minutes: 51%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 20.2 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 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.
420 people come into Sayabec to work, most from Amqui and Matane
- Amqui135
- Matane35
- Val-Brillant30
- Saint-Cléophas30
- Mont-Joli30
- Lac-au-Saumon25
- Saint-Moïse20
- Saint-Noël20
- Rimouski20
- Causapscal15
- Amqui120
- Matane25
- Saint-Moïse20
- Mont-Joli20
- Lac-au-Saumon10
- Saint-Noël10
- Saint-Damase10
- Rimouski10
63% of the people who work in Sayabec live outside it, 135 of them in Amqui, 21 km away. Amqui is where the largest group of commuters out goes, 120 of them.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
On foot, by bike, bus or train: 7.5% of Sayabec’s commuters
Only 9.2% 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%. Fewer drive than in the middle of Quebec’s towns: 88% against 90%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the La Matapédia census division run 19% below their 2019 level
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 8%. January 2021 was the busiest month, with 1,780 people on EI, 1.7 times 2019’s average. Roughly 6 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. EI beneficiaries: one figure for all of the La Matapédia 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 Sayabec: B+
Better than 75% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Sayabec compares with the places nearby
Sayabec has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 21–29 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sayabec | 65% | 7.7% | $56K | 20 min | C− | B+ |
| Amqui 21.3 km | 73% | 6.9% | $60K | 13.9 min | B− | A− |
| Saint-Ulric 25.1 km | 82% | 4.6% | $61K | 20.5 min | B | B |
| Sainte-Angèle-de-Mérici 28.7 km | 60% | 6.5% | $57K | 26 min | D− | C |
| Lac-au-Saumon 29.4 km | 80% | 4.7% | $64K | 17.8 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 Sayabec, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- 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 Sayabec
How do people in Sayabec get to work?
88% of commuters go by car, 5% walk and 2.5% cycle. On census day 9.2% of everyone in work stayed home to work.
How long is the commute from Sayabec?
On average 20 minutes; 51% take under 15 minutes and 5% take an hour or longer.
Where do people in Sayabec work?
51% work in Sayabec itself; of those who leave, the most go to Amqui (120), then Matane (25).
How many jobs are there in Sayabec?
About 665 people had their usual place of work in Sayabec at the 2021 census, 1.4 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 Sayabec?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 7.7% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Bas-Saint-Laurent economic region at 4.3% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Sayabec?
Before tax, half the households in Sayabec had more than $56,000 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).