Photo: Andrawaag · CC BY-SA 4.0Big Lakes County scores below 97% of Canadian towns for health
Across the region, 48% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Alberta as a whole reaches 53%. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Big Lakes County live 53 km from a hospital on average, and 100% of them more than 30 km. The Health grade for Big Lakes County is D−, #472 of 474 in Alberta and #2,573 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Big Lakes County
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Big Lakes County runs 3.2 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.7 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Residents of Big Lakes County live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (50 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Smoking runs high
Around Big Lakes County, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run high
High blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.9%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Big Lakes County grades D− for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #472 of 474 in Alberta and #2,573 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
How the 5 health regions in Alberta compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Alberta, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Last of the 5 regions in Alberta: the highest figure is 83.0, 4.7 years above the lowest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Big Lakes County’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
From Big Lakes County, a hospital is 53 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Big Lakes County, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 3.1 km for the typical town in Alberta and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Big Lakes County is on the far side. Few clinics are listed in Alberta, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
Hospitals and clinics: Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities. Pharmacies: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Straight-line distances from each dissemination area, weighted by its 2021 population.
High blood pressure for 22% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.9%
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Self-reported obesity, 41%, tops Alberta (32%). More adults drink heavily, 25% to the province’s 19%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
Level with regions as deprived, give or take a few months
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Big Lakes County’s region shows close to the trend.
At 3.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 78.5 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions), and the one Big Lakes County belongs to reaches 78.3. It is outlived by 7 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 78.9 years. A household income of about $112,000, high for a region, doesn’t come with longer lives here; across regions the two barely move together (correlation 0.14).
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Alberta: 49% to 54%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region is behind Alberta, 48% very good or excellent to 52%; 24% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Big Lakes County comes 40th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,029 to 5,185 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Alexander MB B+ | 5,161 | 0.5 km | 52% |
| 2 | Heritage SK B+ | 5,172 | 0.5 km | 49% |
| 3 | Nipawin SK C− | 5,033 | 0.9 km | 47% |
| 38 | Gibsons BC A+ | 5,090 | 19 km | 59% |
| 39 | Saint-Donat QC B | 5,087 | 29 km | 56% |
| 40 | Big Lakes County AB D− | 5,106 | 53 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Big Lakes County itself is the trip to care.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
Questions about health in Big Lakes County
How far is Big Lakes County from a hospital?
Residents of Big Lakes County have a pharmacy 33 km away on average, in a straight line.
What is the life expectancy in Big Lakes County?
Women in Big Lakes County’s region live to 80.9 on average and men to 76.1, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Big Lakes County’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Big Lakes County has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Big Lakes County?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Chronic conditions there average 21% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2022/2024 (13-10-0988) · Statistics Canada, health regions 2023 (82-402-X) · Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · pharmacies © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021. 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).