Photo: Chicoutimi · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Stanstead are lower than in 96% of Canadian towns
Of everyone in Stanstead working or looking for work in May 2021, 6.8% were unemployed, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 9.9%. The average trip to work from Stanstead is 21.9 minutes; 3% of commuters spend an hour or more getting there. Jobs were held by 72% of people aged 15 to 64 in Stanstead in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%.
Jobs and income in Stanstead: what the figures say
Less unemployment than most towns
6.8% 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 3.7% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Household income at the median was $54,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at the middle. Household income ↓
More jobs than the typical town
930 people work in Stanstead and 845 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 21.9 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 3% 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.
The Jobs & income grade for Stanstead: C−
Better than 21% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #394 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.
How many in Stanstead were working in 2021
None of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Memphrémagog census division has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 52%: many residents are past working age. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 58% in October 2026. Participation, the share of residents 15 and over working or looking for work, came to 56%. 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.
Stanstead households: $54,800 a year at the median
Every other place of 2,500 or more in the Memphrémagog census division has a higher median. That puts Stanstead 26% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. These are 2020 incomes, before tax, and they include pandemic benefits such as CERB, which lifted many lower incomes that year.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Workers pour into Stanstead: 9% more on a working day
845 residents of Stanstead had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 930 people had theirs in Stanstead, wherever they lived.
54% 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.
How long the commute from Stanstead takes
Trips under 15 minutes: 49%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 19.3 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
476 people come into Stanstead to work, most from Magog and Sherbrooke
- Magog100
- Sherbrooke80
- Ogden75
- Coaticook45
- Stanstead (Quebec part)45
- Ayer's Cliff35
- Stanstead-Est30
- Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley15
- Waterville10
- Hatley10
- Sherbrooke110
- Magog105
- Ayer's Cliff70
- Coaticook40
- Ogden35
- Québec10
Of everyone working in Stanstead, 51% come in from elsewhere; 100 make the 29 km trip from Magog. The main destination the other way is Sherbrooke, with 110.
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 Stanstead work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Leaving the car at home: 9% of commuters in Stanstead
The car takes 87% of commuters here, under the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Home was the workplace for 12%, under the 21% in 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
21% more people are on EI in the Memphrémagog census division than in 2019
In January 2021 it reached 3,050, the most in the series and 3.2 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.3 in every 100 people aged 15 to 64 in the division draw EI. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 5%.
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). Figures for EI beneficiaries are published for the Memphrémagog census division as a whole, not for Stanstead alone.
Stanstead earns A− for walkability
Better than 84% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #198 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Stanstead ranks: 454th of 578 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Mount Royal Alberta | 2,758 | 83% | 12% | $188K | A+ |
| 2 | Central River Heights Manitoba | 2,736 | 84% | 5.4% | $137K | A+ |
| 3 | Crescentwood Manitoba | 3,060 | 87% | 5% | $123K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Kuujjuaq Quebec | 2,766 | 78% | 4.2% | $112K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 11 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 452 | WestLake-Gladstone Manitoba | 3,604 | 71% | 2.6% | $63K | C− |
| 453 | Kameyosek Alberta | 2,761 | 59% | 24% | $78K | C− |
| 454 | Stanstead Quebec | 2,994 | 72% | 6.8% | $55K | C− |
| 455 | Sicamous British Columbia | 2,854 | 70% | 11% | $65K | C− |
| 456 | Labelle Quebec | 2,861 | 76% | 8.5% | $62K | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 578 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,724 | 43% | 30% | $51K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Stanstead, and others among Quebec’s towns.
How Stanstead compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanstead | 72% | 6.8% | $55K | 21.9 min | C− | A− |
| Stanstead 13.6 km | 76% | 8.2% | $77K | 30.5 min | C | C+ |
| Ayer's Cliff 19.1 km | 89% | 3.8% | $76K | 24.2 min | A− | 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 Stanstead, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- The Labour Force Survey. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Statistics Canada’s place-of-work table counts people with a usual place of work by the municipality they live in and the one they work in. Jobs here are people whose usual workplace is in the municipality, wherever they live.
- Employment Insurance. Beneficiaries of Employment Insurance, month by month, for the census division rather than the town. Many jobless people don’t qualify, so it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- 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 Stanstead
How long is the commute from Stanstead?
21.9 minutes is the average trip, with 49% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 3% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Stanstead work?
Most stay: 54% work in Stanstead. The rest go first to Sherbrooke (110) and Magog (105).
How many jobs are there in Stanstead?
The 2021 census counted about 930 people working in Stanstead: 1.1 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 102 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Stanstead?
The 2021 census found 6.8% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Estrie economic region, is 3.7% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Stanstead?
The median household in Stanstead had $54,800 before tax in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Stanstead get to work?
By car: 87% of commuters, 9% walk; on census day 12% of those in work worked from home.
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).