Photo: Robert Garry · CC BY-SA 4.0A larger share of people aged 15 to 64 are in work in Sept-Îles than in 74% of Canadian towns
Out of work in May 2021: 5% of Sept-Îles’ labour force; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. Commutes from Sept-Îles average 16.4 minutes, and 1.2% take an hour or more. Median household income in Sept-Îles was $80,100 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns.
The work figures that set Sept-Îles apart
More people in work than most towns
With 80% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 62% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
The Labour Force Survey had the area at 4.3% in June 2026; on census day in 2021 the town’s own rate was 5%, where the middle of Canadian towns had 9.9%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 16.4 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 1.2% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Sept-Îles: A
Better than 93% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #33 of 507 in Quebec.
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 Sept-Îles, 80% of people aged 15 to 64 have a job
The participation rate, everyone 15 and over working or looking for work, was 65%. Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 62% were working. In June 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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 Sept-Îles
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 14.4 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 62% of commuters, 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.
More of Sept-Îles’ workers leave each day than arrive
10,325 residents of Sept-Îles had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 9,440 people had theirs in Sept-Îles, wherever they lived.
Each person commuting in is matched by about 2 residents going out. 84% 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.
16% of Sept-Îles’ residents in work leave it to work; Uashat 27 takes the most
- Port-Cartier320
- Uashat 27110
- Maliotenam105
- Québec60
- Lac-Walker30
- Montréal20
- La Malbaie15
- Lévis15
- Baie-Comeau15
- Victoriaville10
- Uashat 27680
- Port-Cartier465
- Saint-Honoré120
- Saint-David-de-Falardeau70
- Fermont35
- Larouche30
- Havre-Saint-Pierre30
- Québec20
- Bégin20
- Mingan20
Port-Cartier sends the largest group the other way, 320 people.
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 Sept-Îles work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
What households in Sept-Îles earn
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 56% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Sept-Îles is 8% above it. That year, 2020, brought emergency benefits that count in these totals, before tax.
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 6.6% of Sept-Îles’ commuters
Transit takes 0.2% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 91% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 8.2% worked at home on census day, against 21% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
14% more people are on EI in the Sept-Rivières–Caniapiscau census division than in 2019
The count topped out in January 2021 at 2,610 people, 2.5 times the 2019 average. Roughly 4.5 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 7%.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. Area behind the EI beneficiaries figures: the Sept-Rivières–Caniapiscau 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).
How walkable Sept-Îles is: B+
Better than 69% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #287 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Sept-Îles is 18th among 357 Canadian towns of 17,100 to 33,100
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowknife Northwest Territories | 22,858 | 80% | 5.8% | $148K | A+ |
| 2 | Central Saanich British Columbia | 18,184 | 85% | 4.9% | $103K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| 4 | Cap-Rouge Quebec | 17,139 | 81% | 4.3% | $126K | A+ |
| 5 | Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures Quebec | 20,864 | 82% | 5.3% | $111K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Saint-Michel Quebec | 17,303 | 83% | 4.7% | $98K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 75% | 11% | $98K | A |
| 17 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 78% | 7.2% | $113K | A |
| 18 | Sept-Îles Quebec | 24,483 | 80% | 5% | $80K | A |
| 19 | Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Quebec | 26,786 | 83% | 4.8% | $117K | A |
| 20 | Sainte-Thérèse-de-Lisieux Quebec | 17,558 | 81% | 4% | $101K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 357 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Sept-Îles, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Jobs near Sept-Îles: the places around it
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept-Îles | 80% | 5% | $80K | 16.4 min | A | B+ |
| Uashat 27 1.6 km | 45% | 12% | $66K | 16.1 min | C | A+ |
| Maliotenam 12.9 km | 52% | 12% | $73K | 23.2 min | C− | A− |
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 Sept-Îles, 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 census-week jobless rate for residents 15 and over. Its base is the labour force, those employed plus those actively looking.
- 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. Counts of workers with a fixed workplace, by where they live and where they work, both taken as whole municipalities; the jobs figure takes everyone who works here, wherever home is.
- 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.
- Which towns we compare. Every town and city neighbourhood with 2,500 residents or more; whole cities and First Nations reserves are left out. Each middle figure is a median.
Questions about work in Sept-Îles
What is the average household income in Sept-Îles?
The census puts Sept-Îles at $80,100 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Sept-Îles get to work?
By car: 91% of commuters, 0.2% take public transit, 5.6% walk and 0.8% cycle; on census day 8.2% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Sept-Îles?
16.4 minutes is the average trip, with 62% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 1.2% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Sept-Îles work?
84% work in Sept-Îles itself; of those who leave, the most go to Uashat 27 (680), then Port-Cartier (465).
How many jobs are there in Sept-Îles?
The 2021 census counted about 9,440 people working in Sept-Îles: 0.9 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 787 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Sept-Îles?
At the 2021 census 5% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec economic region, gives 4.3% in June 2026.
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).