Photo: outofthought · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Discovery Ridge beats 94% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 56% very good or excellent, against 53% in Alberta. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Discovery Ridge’s is long: 5.4 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Discovery Ridge a grade of A, #138 of 474 in Alberta and #327 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Discovery Ridge
Fewer smokers
Smoking is rarer around Discovery Ridge than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 6.2% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around Discovery Ridge runs 1.5 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 21.7 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Fewer households under strain
With a situational-vulnerability score of 1.0 out of 5, Discovery Ridge sits in the index’s least pressed areas. The wider area ↓
More people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 4.8 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (57% as answered). Health survey ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Discovery 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: #138 of 474 in Alberta and #327 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
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 27% of adults against 32% for Alberta.
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.
Life expectancy across the 5 health regions in Alberta
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
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
This is the one part of the block measured for Discovery Ridge itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
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.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Discovery Ridge’s dot is marked, close to the line.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Discovery Ridge belongs to lives about as long as its score of 2.3 predicts: 83.0 years, the trend 83.2. 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.
Getting to hospital from Discovery Ridge: 5.4 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Discovery Ridge, weighted by who lives there.
Discovery Ridge is further out than the provincial norm of 3.1 km in Alberta, and than 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.
Mid-table for hospital distance among towns its size: Discovery Ridge comes 23rd of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,187 to 4,326 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown SK B+ | 4,282 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Beaupré QC A+ | 4,314 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 21 | Anderson Walk BC A | 4,210 | 4.5 km | 50% |
| 22 | Templemead ON B | 4,188 | 4.9 km | 53% |
| 23 | Discovery Ridge AB A | 4,256 | 5.4 km | 56% |
| 24 | Sunrise Estates BC A | 4,292 | 6.4 km | 50% |
| 25 | Crabtree QC A− | 4,237 | 6.6 km | 56% |
| 40 | Eganville ON C− | 4,326 | 32 km | 50% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Discovery 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Ridge | 5.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Springbank Hill 1.7 km | 4.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Aspen Woods 3.2 km | 5.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Signal Hill 3.5 km | 3.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Strathcona Park 4.3 km | 3.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| West Springs 4.4 km | 5.0 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Glamorgan 4.5 km | 1.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Discovery Ridge’s regional figures. Residents of Glamorgan live nearer a hospital, at 1.2 km against 5.4 km in Discovery Ridge.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Discovery Ridge itself is the trip to care.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
Questions about health in Discovery Ridge
How is Discovery Ridge’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Discovery Ridge’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Discovery Ridge?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Discovery Ridge?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.0 for women, 80.9 for men around Discovery Ridge (2022/2024).
How far is Discovery Ridge from a hospital?
Residents of Discovery Ridge have a pharmacy 2.7 km away on average, in a straight line.
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).