Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · CC0Health in Sunnyside beats 97% 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%. What sets Sunnyside apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.8 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Sunnyside is A+, #37 of 474 in Alberta and #141 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sunnyside
A region that smokes less
The age-standardised smoking rate around Sunnyside is well below the typical town’s; 6.2% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Sunnyside 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 ↓
Self-rated health runs high
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 ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
With 27 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.5 km off, Sunnyside 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.
Sunnyside 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.
High blood pressure for 17% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.7%
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
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 Sunnyside 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
Stress touches 23% of adults on most days; mental health is rated very good or excellent by 54%, the province 52% (Alberta).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Sunnyside: 1.8 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Sunnyside, 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, Sunnyside 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.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Sunnyside’s region, on the line, stands for every town in it.
Use the deprivation index alone and Sunnyside’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. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, shorter lives win out: 7 of the 10, around a median of 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Sunnyside comes 6th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,935 to 3,021 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dewdney Place SK B+ | 3,021 | 0.9 km | 49% |
| 2 | Buchanan ON B | 3,006 | 1.0 km | 53% |
| 3 | Wawa ON C− | 2,943 | 1.2 km | 46% |
| 4 | Saint-Marc-des-Carrières QC A+ | 2,961 | 1.3 km | 62% |
| 5 | Skyrattler AB B+ | 2,956 | 1.7 km | 51% |
| 6 | Sunnyside AB A+ | 2,976 | 1.8 km | 56% |
| 7 | Allendale AB B+ | 2,951 | 2.2 km | 51% |
| 8 | Varsity View MB B+ | 2,985 | 2.4 km | 52% |
| 40 | Markstay-Warren ON D | 2,990 | 32 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sunnyside
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyside | 1.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Rosedale 0.6 km | 2.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Eau Claire 0.7 km | 1.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Downtown Commercial Core 0.9 km | 1.0 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Downtown West End 1.2 km | 1.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Hillhurst 1.3 km | 2.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Crescent Heights 1.4 km | 2.3 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
Same region, same survey: Sunnyside’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Sunnyside itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Sunnyside
How is Sunnyside’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Sunnyside’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Sunnyside?
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 Sunnyside?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Sunnyside’s health region only: 85.0 years for women and 80.9 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Sunnyside from a hospital?
Residents of Sunnyside have a pharmacy 0.5 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).