Photo: Daniel from Glasgow, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0Few places match Saddle Ridge for health: it beats 94% 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%. Closer to home, a hospital is 6.7 km from the average resident of Saddle Ridge, further than the usual 3.7 km. Saddle Ridge grades A for health, #156 of 474 in Alberta and #370 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Saddle Ridge
Smoking runs low
Smoking is rarer around Saddle Ridge than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 6.2% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Born around Saddle Ridge, 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 ↓
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 ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
A typical home in Saddle Ridge has 5.1 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.6 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Saddle 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: #156 of 474 in Alberta and #370 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
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.
How the 5 health regions in Alberta compare on life expectancy
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 Saddle 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.
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
Mental health is close to the province’s: 54% rate it very good or excellent, against 52% in Alberta, and 23% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 6.7 km from the average home in Saddle Ridge
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Saddle Ridge’s own, not the region’s.
Saddle 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.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Saddle Ridge’s region shows close to the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Saddle 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. 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, Saddle Ridge is 34th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 21,062 to 22,026 people, median 2.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Parkdale ON A | 21,663 | 0.5 km | 50% |
| 2 | East L'Amoreaux ON A | 21,533 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Englemount-Lawrence ON A | 21,455 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 32 | Cole Harbour NS B+ | 21,627 | 5.5 km | 51% |
| 33 | Forest Glade ON B | 21,328 | 6.2 km | 52% |
| 34 | Saddle Ridge AB A | 21,479 | 6.7 km | 56% |
| 35 | Old Barrhaven West ON A | 22,012 | 7.6 km | 56% |
| 36 | Colchester County, Subdivision B NS D | 21,578 | 7.8 km | 42% |
| 40 | South Frontenac ON B− | 21,599 | 22 km | 53% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Saddle Ridge
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle Ridge | 6.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Taradale 1.4 km | 5.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Cityscape 2.1 km | 6.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Martindale 2.2 km | 4.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Falconridge 3.3 km | 3.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Castleridge 3.3 km | 3.5 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Coral Springs 3.4 km | 4.6 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Around Saddle Ridge the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- 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 Saddle Ridge’s own.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- 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. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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 Saddle Ridge
How is Saddle Ridge’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Saddle Ridge: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Saddle Ridge?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Saddle Ridge?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.0 for women, 80.9 for men around Saddle Ridge (2022/2024).
How far is Saddle Ridge from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 0.6 km from the average resident of Saddle 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).