Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Working-age people in Val-d'Or have jobs more often than in 80% of Canadian towns
In May 2021, unemployment in Val-d'Or reached 4.5%, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns. Workers in Val-d'Or spend 17.2 minutes on the way to work on average, and 3.8% need an hour or more. Median household income in Val-d'Or was $76,000 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900.
What stands out about work in Val-d'Or
More people in work than most towns
The 2021 census found 81% of 15-to-64s with a job (73% in the middle of Canadian towns). Count every adult, retirees too, and the figure is 63%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
On census day in 2021 4.5% were unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; by October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the area at 2.5%. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 17.2 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.8% 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.
Val-d'Or earns A for jobs and income
Better than 91% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #47 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 Val-d'Or, 81% of the working-age population has a job
For the wider area, the Labour Force Survey had 60% in work in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 66% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. An older population pulls the all-ages rate down: 63% of residents 15 and over were in work. Census day was 11 May 2021, in the pandemic’s third wave: unemployment ran high and many worked from home, so these figures describe that spring rather than today.
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.
How long the commute from Val-d'Or takes
A quarter-hour or less for 62% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 16.5 minutes. 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.
Commuting time at the 2021 Census, to work only, for people who travel to a usual workplace or have none fixed.
About as many people come in to work in Val-d'Or as leave
13,325 residents of Val-d'Or had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 13,275 people had theirs in Val-d'Or, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 84% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
16% of Val-d'Or’s residents in work leave it to work; Malartic takes the most
- Malartic425
- Rouyn-Noranda200
- Barraute200
- Rivière-Héva160
- Senneterre155
- Senneterre140
- La Corne110
- Amos75
- Saint-Marc-de-Figuery35
- La Sarre30
- Malartic740
- Saguenay295
- Preissac235
- Rouyn-Noranda150
- Lac Simon105
- Amos95
- Saint-Jérôme90
- Eeyou Istchee Baie-James50
- Kivalliq, Unorganized (NO)40
- Senneterre35
Malartic sends the largest group the other way, 425 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 Val-d'Or work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
Household income in Val-d'Or
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Val-d'Or is 3% above it. CERB and the other emergency payments of 2020 are counted in these incomes, which lifted the lower ones 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: 6.6% of commuters in Val-d'Or
Transit takes 0.4% of commuters, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. 90% drive to work, about the same as in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Fewer worked at home than in the middle of Canadian towns: 8.4% against 21%.
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 La Vallée-de-l'Or census division, 3% more people receive EI than in 2019
Set against the same month a year before, the count in August 2026 fell by 8%. At its peak, in January 2021, 2,170 people were on EI, 2.6 times the 2019 average. Roughly 3.5 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 Vallée-de-l'Or 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).
Val-d'Or earns B for walkability
Better than 65% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #317 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
13th of 206: where Val-d'Or ranks among Canadian towns of 23,300 to 45,000
| # | Place | People | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehorse Yukon | 34,129 | 82% | 5.6% | $112K | A+ |
| 2 | Arcola East Saskatchewan | 33,823 | 79% | 7.7% | $123K | A+ |
| 3 | Woolwich Ontario | 31,382 | 82% | 6.2% | $115K | A+ |
| 4 | Val-Bélair Quebec | 30,003 | 84% | 4.3% | $96K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Sainte-Julie Quebec | 30,981 | 84% | 4.7% | $107K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf Quebec | 37,164 | 83% | 6.2% | $83K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Quebec | 26,786 | 83% | 4.8% | $117K | A |
| 12 | Boucherville Quebec | 41,910 | 82% | 5.2% | $111K | A |
| 13 | Val-d'Or Quebec | 33,353 | 81% | 4.5% | $76K | A |
| 14 | Squamish British Columbia | 28,578 | 83% | 6.8% | $112K | A |
| 15 | West Kelowna British Columbia | 40,274 | 78% | 7.5% | $99K | A |
| … | ||||||
| 206 | Parc-Extension Quebec | 29,066 | 61% | 16% | $48K | D− |
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the places either side of Val-d'Or, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Around Val-d'Or: jobs, pay and the commute
No closer places have figures: these lie 25–39 km from Val-d'Or.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-d'Or | 81% | 4.5% | $76K | 17.2 min | A | B |
| Malartic 24.7 km | 77% | 6.2% | $69K | 20.2 min | B | A− |
| Rivière-Héva 30.6 km | 77% | 5% | $101K | 27 min | B+ | C+ |
| Lac Simon 33.2 km | 32% | 12% | $56K | 14.1 min | C− | A− |
| Barraute 38.8 km | 81% | 7.4% | $68K | 31.6 min | C | B+ |
| Senneterre 38.9 km | 73% | 13% | $76K | 30.8 min | C− | D |
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 Val-d'Or, 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. 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.
- 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. 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. Built from the census table that pairs each worker’s home municipality with their workplace municipality. A job here means someone who usually works in the municipality, local or not.
- Employment Insurance. How many people in the census division drew Employment Insurance each month; it moves with layoffs and hiring, yet people who don’t qualify are absent from it.
- 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 Val-d'Or
What is the unemployment rate in Val-d'Or?
In October 2026 the Labour Force Survey put the Abitibi-Témiscamingue economic region at 2.5%; the 2021 census, which counts the town itself, found 4.5%, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns.
What is the average household income in Val-d'Or?
The census puts Val-d'Or at $76,000 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Val-d'Or get to work?
Driving takes 90% of commuters to work, 0.4% take public transit, 5.5% walk and 0.7% cycle, and on census day 8.4% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Val-d'Or?
About 17.2 minutes on average, with 62% under a quarter-hour and 3.8% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Val-d'Or work?
Most stay: 84% work in Val-d'Or. The rest go first to Malartic (740) and Saguenay (295).
How many jobs are there in Val-d'Or?
Some 13,275 people worked in Val-d'Or at the 2021 census: 1 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 1,167 businesses with employees 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).