Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0More of Waterville’s 15-to-64s are in work than in 90% of Canadian towns
1,320 people have their usual place of work in Waterville, against 760 residents who travel to a job. Median household income in Waterville was $73,600 in 2020; the middle of Canadian towns is $85,900. Joblessness at the 2021 census: 4.9% of Waterville’s labour force, next to 9.9% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What the numbers say about work in Waterville
More people in work than most towns
With 84% of its 15-to-64s in work in 2021, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, it has 66% of all adults employed. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
4.9% 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 4.2% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
A local job centre
With 1,320 jobs based in Waterville and 760 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 23 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 3.7% 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 Waterville: A−
Better than 78% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #116 of 507 in Quebec.
Its strongest measure is the share of 15-to-64s in work; 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.
Work for 84% of 15-to-64s in Waterville
Take in all adults, retirees with them, and only 66% were working. By October 2026, the Labour Force Survey had 60% of the wider area’s adults in work. Working or looking, 70% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. 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.
A working day adds 57% to the people at work in Waterville
About 2 people arrive to work in Waterville for each resident who goes out. Of those who commute, 21% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
23 minutes from Waterville to work, under the middle of Canadian towns
Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 20 minutes. The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. Trips under 15 minutes: 37%, more than the 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. An hour or more: 3.7% of commuters, under the 5.3% 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.
1,164 people come into Waterville to work, most from Sherbrooke and Compton
- Sherbrooke780
- Compton90
- Cookshire-Eaton70
- Coaticook50
- Magog35
- Hatley30
- East Angus25
- Ascot Corner15
- Saint-Isidore-de-Clifton10
- Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton10
- Sherbrooke355
- Coaticook85
- Magog70
- Cookshire-Eaton25
- Compton15
- Ayer's Cliff15
- Stanstead10
- North Hatley10
- Hatley10
88% of the people who work in Waterville live outside it, 780 of them in Sherbrooke, 11 km away. Of residents who leave for work, most head to Sherbrooke (355).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
What households in Waterville earn
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 57% of Canadian towns.
That puts Waterville 1% below the median of Quebec’s towns, $74,100. In 2020 emergency benefits topped up many low incomes, and the census counts them here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Without a car, 4.2% of Waterville’s commuters get to work
Only 19% 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. Nearly everyone drives: 94% of commuters go by car, truck or van.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
EI claims in the Coaticook census division run 58% above their 2019 level
Compared with a year earlier, the count in August 2026 rose by 2%. The highest month was January 2021: 950 people, 2.8 times the 2019 level. Roughly 4.4 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 Coaticook 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).
Walkability in Waterville: graded B
Better than 56% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #351 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
How Waterville ranks: 118th of 458 Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Hatley Quebec | 2,512 | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | A+ |
| 10 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska Quebec | 3,307 | 85% | 4.8% | $91K | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 116 | Saint-Isidore Quebec | 2,889 | 81% | 3% | $94K | A− |
| 117 | Gold Bar Alberta | 2,685 | 73% | 12% | $104K | A− |
| 118 | Waterville Quebec | 2,643 | 84% | 4.9% | $74K | A− |
| 119 | Avonmore Alberta | 2,971 | 74% | 12% | $102K | A− |
| 120 | Lesser Slave River No. 124 Alberta | 2,980 | 81% | 8.8% | $100K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 458 | 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 Waterville, and others among Quebec’s towns.
Waterville and its neighbours: work and income
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 84% | 4.9% | $74K | 23 min | A− | B |
| Hatley 3 km | 89% | 4.1% | $103K | 21.8 min | A+ | C− |
| Compton 7.5 km | 86% | 4.6% | $75K | 23.4 min | A− | B |
| Sherbrooke 11 km | 77% | 6.1% | $63K | 20.7 min | B− | A |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 12.4 km | 81% | 4% | $91K | 27 min | A− | D− |
| Ascot Corner 18.5 km | 86% | 3.2% | $88K | 23.1 min | A | D |
| Ayer's Cliff 18.8 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 Waterville, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Waterville
How many jobs are there in Waterville?
The 2021 census counted about 1,320 people working in Waterville: 1.7 jobs for every resident who commutes to a fixed workplace. Statistics Canada counted 64 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Waterville?
The 2021 census found 4.9% unemployed, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns; the Labour Force Survey’s latest, for the Sherbrooke metro area, is 4.2% (October 2026).
What is the average household income in Waterville?
Waterville’s middle household had $73,600 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Waterville get to work?
By car: 94% of commuters, 4.2% walk; on census day 19% of those in work worked from home.
How long is the commute from Waterville?
23 minutes is the average trip, with 37% of commuters there in under 15 minutes and 3.7% taking an hour or more.
Where do people in Waterville work?
21% work in Waterville itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Sherbrooke (355), then Coaticook (85).
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).