Photo: Masalai · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Grenfell earn less than those in 79% of Canadian towns
Grenfell had an unemployment rate of 13% at the 2021 census, against 9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns. Jobs located in Grenfell: 380, for 255 residents with a usual workplace. The 2021 census found 68% of working-age people in Grenfell employed, next to 73% for the middle of Canadian towns.
What sets Grenfell apart on jobs and income
Fewer people in work than most towns
Of residents aged 15 to 64, 68% held a job in 2021; the middle of Canadian towns is 73%, and over all adults the share is 45%. In work ↓
Lower incomes than most towns
Half the households here had more than $64,400 in 2020, against $85,900 in the middle of Canadian towns. Household income ↓
A local job centre
380 people work in Grenfell and 255 residents commute to a fixed workplace; the middle of Canadian towns has 0.8 jobs per working resident. The daily tide ↓
Shorter trips than most towns
Commutes take 20.7 minutes on average, against 26 in the middle of Canadian towns; 12% take an hour or more. 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.
Jobs & income in Grenfell: graded C
Better than 26% of Canadian towns on three measures together.
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.
Work and the working-age population of Grenfell
None of the 3 other places of 2,500 people or more in Census Division No. 5 has a smaller share of 15-to-64s in work.
Many residents are past working age, so among everyone 15 and over the share in work drops to 45%. The monthly Labour Force Survey, which covers the wider area, put its employment rate at 59% in October 2026. Counting those looking for work too, 51% of people aged 15 and over were in the labour force. 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.
The median household in Grenfell had $64,400 in 2020
The middle of Saskatchewan’s towns is $86,800, and Grenfell is 26% below it. Every other place of 2,500 or more in Census Division No. 5 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).
Each working day, Grenfell’s workforce swells by 43%
Inbound commuters outnumber outbound ones about 2 to 1 in Grenfell. Of those who commute, 60% stay within the municipality; the middle of Canadian towns is 70%.
People with no fixed workplace are in neither count.
At 20.7 minutes, commutes from Grenfell are shorter than in the middle of Canadian towns
Only 56% get to work within a quarter-hour, against 67% in the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns. An hour or more: 12% of commuters, above the 4.1% in the middle of Saskatchewan’s towns. Statistics Canada’s own average, timed exactly rather than by band, is 16.8 minutes. The middle of Saskatchewan’s towns averages 18.1 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.
226 people come into Grenfell to work, most from Elcapo No. 154 and Wolseley No. 155
- Elcapo No. 15465
- Wolseley No. 15530
- Chester No. 12520
- Wolseley20
- Regina20
- Indian Head20
- Grayson No. 18410
- Cowessess 7310
- Kahkewistahaw 7210
- Broadview40
- Wolseley20
- Esterhazy10
- Montmartre10
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (98-10-0459): commuting flows between municipalities (census subdivisions), rounded to 5; linked names have their own pages.
Walk, cycle or ride transit: the choice of 19% of Grenfell’s commuters
Only 9.2% 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).
EI claims in Census Division No. 5 run 16% above their 2019 level
Nobody publishes EI beneficiaries for Grenfell alone, so this card uses the figure for Census Division No. 5.
That works out to around 3.9 beneficiaries per 100 people aged 15 to 64 across the division. Over the year to August 2026, the count rose by 9%. The highest month was February 2021: 1,280 people, 2.1 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).
The Walkability grade for Grenfell: A−
Better than 83% of Canadian towns on two measures together.
OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); active commuting from the 2021 Census.
Work next door to Grenfell
Grenfell has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 40–71 km out.
| Place | In work, 15–64 | Unemployment | Household income | Average trip | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grenfell | 68% | 13% | $64K | 20.7 min | C | A− |
| Kipling 40.2 km | 82% | 3.8% | $70K | 21.2 min | B+ | A |
| Indian Head 54.1 km | 88% | 5% | $73K | 23.5 min | A− | B |
| Melville 58.9 km | 74% | 8% | $70K | 18 min | B | A |
| Esterhazy 66.4 km | 83% | 4.9% | $91K | 17.4 min | A+ | B+ |
| North Qu'Appelle No. 187 71.2 km | 79% | 7.7% | $105K | 31 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 Grenfell, where it comes from, and what it leaves out.
- Household income. The 2020 income of the household at the midpoint, all sources and before tax. Inside a city we rebuild it from the dissemination areas’ income bands, so there it is an estimate.
- Trip times. How long getting to work normally takes, averaged from the census’s time bands at their middles; expect it to read slightly high against the timed figure.
- Where people commute. Jobs count everyone whose usual workplace lies in the municipality, residents or commuters from elsewhere, from Statistics Canada’s home-by-workplace table.
- 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. Sampled each month and released for regions rather than towns, so its rate describes the area around the town.
- In work. Why 15 to 64? Otherwise retirees would pull the rate down in older towns. The census can’t say how old a neighbourhood’s workers are, so the count of people in work takes every age.
- Unemployment. It counts only people who wanted work and had none in May 2021, as a share of those working or searching; students and retirees who weren’t looking stay out of both sides.
- Which towns we compare. Towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 people or more, never a whole city and never a First Nations reserve. Middles are medians.
Questions about work in Grenfell
How do people in Grenfell get to work?
Driving takes 79% of commuters to work, 19% walk, and on census day 9.2% of those in work were at home.
How long is the commute from Grenfell?
About 20.7 minutes on average, with 56% under a quarter-hour and 12% at an hour or longer.
Where do people in Grenfell work?
Most stay: 60% work in Grenfell. The rest go first to Broadview (40) and Wolseley (20).
How many jobs are there in Grenfell?
Some 380 people worked in Grenfell at the 2021 census: 1.5 jobs per working resident with a fixed workplace. In June 2026, 71 businesses with employees were on Statistics Canada’s count.
What is the unemployment rate in Grenfell?
Two figures answer it: 13% on census day in May 2021 (9.9% in the middle of Canadian towns), and 4.9% for the Yorkton-Melville economic region in the Labour Force Survey of October 2026.
What is the average household income in Grenfell?
Grenfell’s middle household had $64,400 in 2020, before tax; Canadian towns have $85,900 at their middle.
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).