Currently the major employers include a Greenfirst hardwood and softwood facility as well as a plywood mill operated by Columbia Forest Products.

[13] Different cultures can be found in Hearst such as Finn, Slovak, Bulgarian, Chinese, Portuguese, Greek, Ukrainian, First Nations and also Black Canadians.

The town is home to the Université de Hearst, formerly a federated school of Laurentian University in Sudbury.

[14] Local outdoor activities include fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, camping, swimming, canoeing, and golf.

Hearst was the northern terminus for a Canadian National Railways-operated passenger train service from Sault Ste.

It also has the Université de Hearst, a post-secondary institution that was formerly federated with Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Hearst used to be served by CBCC-TV and CBLFT-TV-5, rebroadcasters of the Toronto-based CBLT-DT (CBC Television) and CBLFT-DT (Ici Radio-Canada Télé) respectively, but the transmitters were shut down in 2012 due to budget cuts at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.