Few places match Deer Ridge for health: it beats 95% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 56% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than Alberta’s 53%. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Deer Ridge live 3.8 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Deer Ridge grades A+ for health, #97 of 474 in Alberta and #258 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Deer Ridge
Fewer smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Deer Ridge is well below the typical town’s; 6.2% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Deer Ridge’s region sits 1.5 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.7 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 4.8 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 57%. Health survey ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
The average resident of Deer Ridge can reach 6.2 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.7 km off. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Deer Ridge grades A+ 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: #97 of 474 in Alberta and #258 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.
17% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.7% diabetes
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
At 27%, self-reported obesity is below Alberta’s 32%.
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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 5 regions in Alberta
Regional life expectancy in Alberta, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
No region of the 5 in Alberta lives longer than this one; the shortest-lived reaches 78.3, a gap of 4.7 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Deer Ridge’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
57% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in Alberta (54%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
The region’s 54% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of Alberta’s 52%, with 23% reporting stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Deer Ridge, a hospital is 3.8 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Deer Ridge’s own, not the region’s.
Deer Ridge is near the provincial norm, 3.1 km for the typical town in Alberta, with the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. 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.
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Deer Ridge’s region shows close to the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Deer Ridge’s region, at 2.3, should live about 83.2 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 83.0, near enough. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (7 of 10), with a median of 82.8.
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.
Deer Ridge is 17th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,372 to 4,537 people, median 5.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastmount ON B+ | 4,496 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 2 | Golden BC B+ | 4,433 | 0.7 km | 57% |
| 3 | Centennial MB B+ | 4,483 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 15 | Felker ON B | 4,534 | 3.6 km | 53% |
| 16 | Parkridge SK B+ | 4,518 | 3.7 km | 49% |
| 17 | Deer Ridge AB A+ | 4,454 | 3.8 km | 56% |
| 18 | Highway Valley ON B | 4,469 | 4.2 km | 53% |
| 19 | Queensland AB A | 4,452 | 4.4 km | 56% |
| 40 | Casselman ON C− | 4,535 | 32 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Deer Ridge
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Ridge | 3.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Deer Run 0.8 km | 3.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Parkland 1.1 km | 2.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Queensland 1.6 km | 4.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| McKenzie Lake 2.4 km | 4.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Douglasdale/Glen 2.6 km | 6.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Lake Bonavista 3.0 km | 4.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Deer Ridge’s; read across for the hospital trip.
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. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Deer Ridge’s own.
- 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.
Questions about health in Deer Ridge
How is Deer Ridge’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Deer Ridge’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Deer Ridge?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Deer Ridge?
Women in Deer Ridge’s region live to 85.0 on average and men to 80.9, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is Deer Ridge from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 0.7 km from the average resident of Deer Ridge, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
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).