Photo: outofthought · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Royal Oak beats 97% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 56% very good or excellent, against 53% in Alberta. Measured from where Royal Oak’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Royal Oak is A+, #37 of 474 in Alberta and #141 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Royal Oak
Fewer smokers
Smoking is rarer around Royal Oak than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 6.2% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Royal Oak, a child can expect 1.5 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.7 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Upbeat about their health
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
A typical home in Royal Oak has 9.3 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.7 km away. 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.
Royal Oak 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: #37 of 474 in Alberta and #141 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (17%) and diabetes (6.7%)
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
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.
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
Top of the 5 regions in Alberta: the lowest figure is 78.3, 4.7 years below the highest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Royal Oak’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
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%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across Alberta (54% against 52%), while 23% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Royal Oak, a hospital is 1.7 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Royal Oak, 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, Royal Oak is on the near 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.
Life expectancy close to where deprivation puts it, a shade under
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Royal Oak’s region sits on the trend line through 102 regions.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Royal Oak belongs to lives about as long as its score of 2.3 predicts: 83.0 years, the trend 83.2. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 7 of 10; their median is 82.8 years.
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Royal Oak is 7th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (12,112 to 12,605 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DT Hospital ON A− | 12,384 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Yonge-Eglinton ON A | 12,424 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Woodbine Corridor ON A | 12,283 | 1.0 km | 50% |
| 5 | Alderwood ON A | 12,596 | 1.6 km | 50% |
| 6 | Elliot Lake ON C− | 12,317 | 1.7 km | 46% |
| 7 | Royal Oak AB A+ | 12,343 | 1.7 km | 56% |
| 8 | Bayview Woods-Steeles ON A | 12,499 | 1.9 km | 50% |
| 9 | Dovercourt Village ON A | 12,378 | 1.9 km | 50% |
| 40 | Wetaskiwin County No. 10 AB C− | 12,117 | 20 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Royal Oak
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Oak | 1.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Rocky Ridge 1.8 km | 2.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Arbour Lake 1.9 km | 2.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Tuscany 2.9 km | 4.6 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Citadel 3.0 km | 2.6 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Scenic Acres 3.0 km | 4.6 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Rocky View County 3.2 km | 13 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Royal Oak from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Rocky View County is the furthest from care, 13 km to Royal Oak’s 1.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Royal Oak itself is the trip to care.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
- 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 Royal Oak
How healthy is Royal Oak?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Royal Oak?
For the health region that includes Royal Oak, women can expect 85.0 years and men 80.9 (2022/2024).
How is Royal Oak’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Royal Oak: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Royal Oak from a hospital?
Residents of Royal Oak have a pharmacy 0.7 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).