Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0Stoke has 0.3 jobs for every resident in work, so most leave town for work
Median household income in Stoke was $87,800 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Stoke had an unemployment rate of 6% at the 2021 census; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. In Stoke, 79% of residents aged 15 to 64 were working in May 2021, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Stoke: the figures worth knowing
More people in work than most towns
With 79% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 61% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Unemployment was 6% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. The Labour Force Survey for the wider area read 4.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
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, Stoke grades A−
Better than 81% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #96 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is household income; 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.
Who in Stoke has a job
Of the 4 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Le Val-Saint-François census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Counting those looking for work too, 65% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 61%: many residents are past working age. For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 60% in work in October 2026. 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.
More of Stoke’s workers leave each day than arrive
It sends out some 5 workers for every one it takes in. The job is inside the municipality for 8.6% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
91% of Stoke’s residents in work leave it to work; Sherbrooke takes the most
Sherbrooke sends the largest group the other way, 120 people.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
How Stoke’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: higher than in 71% of Canadian towns.
One of the 4 other places of 2,500+ in the Le Val-Saint-François census division has a higher median. That puts Stoke 18% above 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).
Leaving the car at home: 2.4% of commuters in Stoke
Nearly everyone drives: 97% of commuters go by car, truck or van. Only 15% worked at home on census day, against 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).
At 23.5 minutes, commutes from Stoke are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Only 24% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 2.7% of commuters, under the 5.3% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20.5 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.
EI claims in the Le Val-Saint-François census division run 20% above their 2019 level
That works out to around 3.4 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 fell by 15%. The highest month was January 2021: 1,560 people, 2.8 times the 2019 level.
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). Stoke doesn’t get its own EI beneficiaries figures; the ones here come from the Le Val-Saint-François census division.
The Walkability grade for Stoke: D
Better than 10% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #498 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Ranked on jobs and income, Stoke is 150th among 694 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 4,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast British Columbia | 4,279 | 77% | 6.1% | $86K | A− |
| 149 | Trend-Arlington Ontario | 3,844 | 77% | 12% | $113K | A− |
| 150 | Stoke Quebec | 3,272 | 79% | 6% | $88K | A− |
| 151 | Deer Run Alberta | 3,652 | 77% | 12% | $105K | A− |
| 152 | Compton Quebec | 3,351 | 86% | 4.6% | $75K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 694 | 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 Stoke, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Neighbouring places to Stoke, compared
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stoke | 79% | 6% | $88K | 23.5 min | A− | D |
| Ascot Corner 4 km | 86% | 3.2% | $88K | 23.1 min | A | D |
| Sherbrooke 12.2 km | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | 20.7 min | B− | A |
| East Angus 12.9 km | 72% | 6.4% | $60K | 23.6 min | C− | A− |
| Westbury 14.7 km | 73% | 4% | $82K | 23.6 min | B− | C− |
| Val-Joli 15.3 km | 85% | 2.7% | $80K | 22.5 min | A | C |
| Cookshire-Eaton 15.5 km | 83% | 5.9% | $70K | 23.9 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 Stoke, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Unemployment. Of everyone 15 or older who was working or job-hunting in the census week, the part still looking. Someone not seeking work isn’t in it at all.
- 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. Built from banded answers: each commuter’s usual one-way trip counts as the midpoint of the band they chose, and the result tends to sit slightly higher than Statistics Canada’s average.
- 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. People receiving EI benefits each month, counted for the census division. It follows the local job market; it isn’t an unemployment rate.
- The Labour Force Survey. The most recent unemployment rate on the page comes from this monthly survey, which covers the wider metro area or economic region, not the town.
- In work. Everyone with a job, whatever their age, divided by the residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2021 Census: below the municipality the census doesn’t split work by age, and this is the one rate every town and neighbourhood can be given.
- 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 Stoke
What is the average household income in Stoke?
Stoke’s middle household had $87,800 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Stoke get to work?
By car: 97% of commuters, 2.4% walk; on census day 15% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Stoke?
23.5 minutes is the average trip, with 24% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 2.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Stoke work?
8.6% work in Stoke itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sherbrooke (770), then Windsor (55).
How many jobs are there in Stoke?
Statistics Canada counted 106 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Stoke?
Two figures answer it: 6% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.2% for the Sherbrooke metro area in the Labour Force Survey of October 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).