Photo: Municipalité de Wickham · CC BY-SA 4.0Wickham has a larger share of its working-age people in jobs than 91% of Canadian towns
Workers in Wickham spend 22.7 minutes on the way to work on average, and 4.1% need an hour or more. Before tax, the typical household in Wickham brought in $76,100 in 2020, next to $85,900 for the middle of Canadian towns. Census day 2021 found 2.8% of Wickham’s labour force without a job; the middle of Canadian towns is 9.9%.
What the numbers say about work in Wickham
More people in work than most towns
Among residents aged 15 to 64, 85% were in work at the 2021 census, against 73% in the middle of Canadian towns; take everyone 15 and over and it falls to 68%. In work ↓
Less unemployment than most towns
Census day in 2021 put 2.8% out of work (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and the area’s monthly survey gave 5% in October 2026. Unemployment ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
The average trip to work is 22.7 minutes (26 in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.1% 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 Wickham: A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on three measures together, #87 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.
How many in Wickham have a job: 85% of 15-to-64s
Of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in the Drummond census division, one has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Working or looking, 70% of everyone 15 and over was in the labour force. Across all ages 15 and over the share in work falls to 68%: many residents are past working age. The Labour Force Survey’s employment rate for the wider area was 63% in October 2026. The census was taken on 11 May 2021, mid-pandemic, when lockdowns had pushed unemployment up and sent many to work from 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.
Commuting times in Wickham
The middle of Quebec’s towns averages 26.5 minutes. A quarter-hour or less for 34% of commuters, against 31% in the middle of Quebec’s towns. Timed exactly, the average is 19.7 minutes (Statistics Canada).
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.
The commute in and out of Wickham balances out
935 residents of Wickham had a usual place of work at the 2021 census, and 880 people had theirs in Wickham, wherever they lived.
The job is inside the municipality for 24% of its commuters (70% in the middle of Canadian towns).
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
76% of Wickham’s residents in work leave it to work; Drummondville takes the most
- Drummondville320
- Acton Vale75
- Lefebvre45
- Saint-Théodore-d'Acton40
- Saint-Germain-de-Grantham30
- Durham-Sud25
- L'Avenir20
- Saint-Nazaire-d'Acton15
- Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover15
- Roxton Falls10
- Drummondville490
- Acton Vale60
- Saint-Hyacinthe40
- Saint-Germain-de-Grantham20
- Valcourt15
- Saint-Guillaume15
- Sherbrooke10
- Granby10
- Saint-Nazaire-d'Acton10
- Lefebvre10
In the other direction the biggest source is Drummondville, with 320.
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 Wickham work and where people who work there live, the ten largest each way.
How Wickham’s household incomes compare
Before tax, 2020: lower than in 52% of Canadian towns.
Wickham’s median is 3% above the middle of Quebec’s towns ($74,100). One of the 3 other places of 2,500+ in the Drummond census division has a higher median. 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).
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 5.8% of Wickham’s commuters
Home was the workplace for 13%, under the 21% in the middle of Canadian towns. Transit barely figures here, against 3.5% in the middle of Canadian towns. Nearly everyone drives: 93% 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).
How residents who commute got to work, 2021 Census; working at home is counted apart.
36% more people are on EI in the Drummond census division than in 2019
Over the year to August 2026, the count fell by 3%. At its peak, in January 2021, 6,830 people were on EI, 3.3 times the 2019 average. For each 100 residents of working age in the division, about 4.1 are on EI.
Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance beneficiaries by census division (14-10-0323): all income benefits, not seasonally adjusted. EI beneficiaries published for the Drummond census division, not by town. EI counts are context, not part of any grade.
People receiving Employment Insurance each month, as a share of the 2019 average (100).
Wickham earns B for walkability
Better than 58% of Canadian towns on two measures together, #346 of 507 in Quebec.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Wickham next to Canadian towns of 2,500 to 3,700: 101st of 497 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Castlemore Estates Ontario | 2,587 | 79% | 11% | $179K | A− |
| 100 | Kirkendall South Ontario | 3,033 | 75% | 9.3% | $139K | A− |
| 101 | Wickham Quebec | 2,745 | 85% | 2.8% | $76K | A− |
| 102 | Saint-Mathieu Quebec | 2,642 | 83% | 3.8% | $89K | A− |
| 103 | Saint-Dominique Quebec | 3,062 | 84% | 4.5% | $84K | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 497 | 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 Wickham, and others among Quebec’s towns.
How Wickham compares with the places nearby
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wickham | 85% | 2.8% | $76K | 22.7 min | A− | B |
| Saint-Théodore-d'Acton 7.7 km | 84% | 4.1% | $71K | 22.4 min | B+ | C+ |
| Saint-Germain-de-Grantham 10.8 km | 85% | 4.8% | $76K | 20 min | A | B− |
| Drummondville 12.7 km | 78% | 5.6% | $61K | 18.3 min | B | A− |
| Saint-Eugène 13.8 km | 85% | 4% | $64K | 23.8 min | B | D |
| Acton Vale 14 km | 80% | 6.4% | $58K | 24.4 min | C+ | A− |
| L'Avenir 14.8 km | 81% | 2.9% | $73K | 26.4 min | B− | B |
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 Wickham, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- 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. 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. Statistics Canada surveys households every month; the results come out for metro areas and economic regions, never for single towns, and keep the rate current after 2021.
- 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. A census-day figure: people without a job who were looking, divided by all those working or looking, ages 15 and up.
- Household income. What the median household took in during 2020 before tax, as the census recorded it; an estimate built from income groups when the place is a neighbourhood.
- Trip times. The census asks how long the trip to work usually takes, in bands; our average uses each band’s middle, so it runs a little above Statistics Canada’s timed average.
- 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 Wickham
How many jobs are there in Wickham?
The 2021 census found about 880 people with their usual workplace in Wickham, or 0.9 for each resident who travels to a fixed job. Statistics Canada counted 131 businesses with employees in June 2026.
What is the unemployment rate in Wickham?
At the 2021 census 2.8% of the labour force had no job and was looking (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns). The latest monthly survey, for the Drummondville metro area, gives 5% in October 2026.
What is the average household income in Wickham?
Wickham’s middle household had $76,100 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
How do people in Wickham get to work?
93% of commuters drive, 5.8% walk; 13% of everyone in work worked at home on census day.
How long is the commute from Wickham?
The average commute is 22.7 minutes; 34% of trips take under 15 minutes and 4.1% an hour or more.
Where do people in Wickham work?
24% work in Wickham itself. Of those who leave, the most go to Drummondville (490), then Acton Vale (60).
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).