Forest Heights scores better for health than 96% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 56% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Alberta as a whole manages 53%. For Forest Heights itself the measure is access: 3.2 km to the nearest hospital, much like the typical 3.7 km. Health gives Forest Heights a grade of A+, #83 of 474 in Alberta and #229 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Forest Heights
Fewer smokers
Around Forest Heights, only 6.2% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Forest Heights’ region sits 1.5 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.7 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More people feeling well
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 4.8 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 57% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
With 12 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.9 km off, Forest Heights is well served for prescriptions. Getting care ↓
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.
Forest Heights 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: #83 of 474 in Alberta and #229 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.
Life expectancy across the 5 health 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
This is the longest-lived of the 5 regions in Alberta, 4.7 years ahead of the last at 78.3.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Forest Heights’ residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health beats Alberta: 57% very good or excellent, against 54%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Neither ahead nor behind Alberta on mental health (54% to 52%), the region has 23% of adults stressed most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Forest Heights, a hospital is 3.2 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Forest Heights’ own, not the region’s.
Forest Heights 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
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Forest Heights’ region is near the line.
At 2.3 on the index, regions tend to reach 83.2 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions), and the one Forest Heights belongs to reaches 83.0. 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.
Forest Heights is 22nd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 6,035 to 6,213 people, median 3.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pleasant Hill SK A− | 6,088 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Civic Hospital ON A+ | 6,091 | 0.5 km | 56% |
| 3 | South Walkerville ON B+ | 6,129 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 20 | Capitol Hill AB A+ | 6,135 | 2.9 km | 56% |
| 21 | Sainte-Anne-des-Monts QC B− | 6,099 | 3.2 km | 56% |
| 22 | Forest Heights AB A+ | 6,120 | 3.2 km | 56% |
| 23 | Crystal Bay - Lakeview Park ON A | 6,059 | 3.3 km | 56% |
| 24 | Castleridge AB A+ | 6,127 | 3.5 km | 56% |
| 40 | Saint-Césaire QC B+ | 6,150 | 21 km | 55% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Forest Heights
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Heights | 3.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Marlborough 1.3 km | 2.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 1.4 km | 3.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Forest Lawn 1.6 km | 4.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Penbrooke Meadows 1.7 km | 4.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Marlborough Park 2.0 km | 3.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Applewood Park 2.8 km | 5.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Forest Heights and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- 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. Only the distances on this page belong to Forest Heights alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
Questions about health in Forest Heights
How is Forest Heights’ Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Forest Heights has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Forest Heights?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Forest Heights?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Forest Heights’ health region only: 85.0 years for women and 80.9 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Forest Heights from a hospital?
For everyday care, Forest Heights’ residents are 0.9 km from a pharmacy on average.
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).