Photo: Ptaff · CC0Wemindji’s household incomes are higher than in 95% of Canadian towns
Unemployment in Wemindji stood at 7.9% on census day 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%. For 2.4% of commuters in Wemindji, the trip to work lasts an hour or more; the average is 10.3 minutes. Wemindji counted 64% of its 15-to-64s in jobs at the 2021 census, and the middle of Canadian towns sits at 73%.
Work in Wemindji, in a few figures
Fewer people in work than most towns
In work at the 2021 census: 64% of people aged 15 to 64, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns, and 58% of everyone 15 and over. In work ↓
Higher incomes than most towns
The middle of Canadian towns is $85,900, and the median household here had $116,700 before tax in 2020. Household income ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 10.3 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 2.4% 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.
On jobs and income, Wemindji grades A
Better than 87% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
Its strongest measure is trip times; its weakest, the share of 15-to-64s in work.
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 and out of work in Wemindji
Of the 5 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Nord-du-Québec census division, 3 have a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
63% of residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force, in work or seeking it. In June 2026, 63% of the wider area’s adults had a job, on the Labour Force Survey’s count. The figures are a snapshot of 11 May 2021, when pandemic rules still kept many people out of work or at 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.
Wemindji households: $116,700 a year at the median
The middle of Quebec’s towns is $74,100, and Wemindji is 57% above it. One of the 5 other places of 2,500+ in the Nord-du-Québec census division has a higher median. Pandemic benefits paid in 2020 lifted the incomes at the bottom, and they are counted here.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: median total income of households in 2020, before tax (a neighbourhood’s estimated from its dissemination areas’ income groups).
Time on the road to work from Wemindji
Timed exactly, the average is 9.3 minutes (Statistics Canada). In the middle of Quebec’s towns, the average commute is 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 91% 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.
More workers leave Wemindji each day than arrive
Outbound commuters outnumber inbound ones about 2 to 1. 75% 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.
25% of Wemindji’s residents in work leave it to work; Chisasibi takes the most
- Chisasibi55
- Eastmain45
- Chibougamau10
- Nemaska10
Inbound, the leader is Chisasibi (15).
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Without a car, 20% of Wemindji’s commuters get to work
74% drive to work, fewer than the 90% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Only 3.9% worked at home on census day, against 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Hardly anyone takes transit to work, where the middle of Canadian towns has 3.5%.
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: main mode of commuting; average durations by mode from table 98-10-0458 (whole municipalities only).
In the Nord-du-Québec census division, the count on EI is close to where it was in 2019
In the twelve months to August 2026 the number fell by 10%. The highest month was July 2021: 1,810 people, 2.5 times the 2019 level. That works out to around 2.5 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division.
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). For EI beneficiaries, the only official count covers all of the Nord-du-Québec census division, Wemindji included.
Everyday places on foot in Wemindji: B
Better than 59% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Next to Wemindji: how nearby places compare
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wemindji | 64% | 7.9% | $117K | 10.3 min | A | B |
| Chisasibi 83.6 km | 62% | 8% | $134K | 13.5 min | A | B− |
The people of each place: the share in work, unemployment, household income and the average commute, with both grades once they come. No closer place has figures: this one lies 84 km from Wemindji.
What this data can and can’t tell you
What each figure measures for Wemindji, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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.
- The Labour Force Survey. Monthly, and only for metro areas and economic regions. It is the up-to-date rate we set beside the census’s 2021 snapshot.
- In work. We divide the number of employed residents by the number aged 15 to 64. Workers past 64 still count on top, because the 2021 Census crosses work with age only for whole municipalities; in return, a retirement town’s pensioners don’t drag the rate down.
- 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. Half of households had more than this before tax in 2020, half less, counting every source of income. For a neighbourhood we estimate the median from the income brackets of its dissemination areas.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Wemindji
How many jobs are there in Wemindji?
The 2021 census found about 425 people with their usual workplace in Wemindji, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 11 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Wemindji?
On census day in May 2021, unemployment stood at 7.9% of the labour force (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). For a recent figure, the Labour Force Survey put the Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec economic region at 4.3% in June 2026.
What is the average household income in Wemindji?
The census puts Wemindji at $116,700 for 2020, before tax and at the median, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns.
How do people in Wemindji get to work?
74% of commuters drive, 20% walk; 3.9% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Wemindji?
The average commute is 10.3 minutes; 91% of trips take under 15 minutes and 2.4% an hour or more.
Where do people in Wemindji work?
75% work in Wemindji itself; of those who leave, the most go to Chisasibi (55), then Eastmain (45).
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).