Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin · CC BY 2.0Varsity 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%. Closer to home, a hospital sits 3.4 km from the average resident of Varsity, about the norm of 3.7 km. Health gives Varsity a grade of A+, #86 of 474 in Alberta and #235 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Varsity
Smoking runs low
Smoking is rarer around Varsity 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 Varsity, 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
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
A typical home in Varsity has 13 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.
Varsity 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: #86 of 474 in Alberta and #235 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%
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
Fewer adults report obesity than across Alberta: 27%, the province 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
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
This is the one part of the block measured for Varsity 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.
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.
From Varsity, a hospital is 3.4 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Varsity, weighted by who lives there.
That is close to the 3.1 km of the typical town in Alberta (the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km), as Varsity goes. The clinic list is thin in Alberta: the facilities database holds few clinics there, so the clinic distance overstates the trip.
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
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Varsity’s lies near the line.
Canada’s 102 health regions show life expectancy dropping as deprivation climbs (correlation −0.83); a region scored 2.3 would be expected to reach 83.2 years, and Varsity’s region is close, at 83.0. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean shorter-lived: 7 of them below it, 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.
Varsity is 20th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (12,321 to 12,888 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yonge-Bay Corridor ON A | 12,888 | 0.3 km | 50% |
| 2 | DT Hospital ON A− | 12,384 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 3 | Regent Park ON A | 12,797 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 18 | Chalmers MB B+ | 12,384 | 2.9 km | 52% |
| 19 | Chaparral AB A+ | 12,522 | 2.9 km | 56% |
| 20 | Varsity AB A+ | 12,605 | 3.4 km | 56% |
| 21 | Highland West ON A | 12,476 | 3.5 km | 53% |
| 22 | Bridlewood AB A+ | 12,547 | 3.8 km | 56% |
| 40 | Lac Ste. Anne County AB D− | 12,639 | 25 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Varsity
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varsity | 3.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Dalhousie 1.9 km | 2.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Brentwood 2.0 km | 2.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Montgomery 2.1 km | 2.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| University Heights 2.5 km | 1.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Bowness 2.8 km | 5.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Silver Springs 3.1 km | 4.8 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Varsity 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
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Varsity alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
Questions about health in Varsity
How is Varsity’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Varsity has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Varsity?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Varsity?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.0 for women, 80.9 for men around Varsity (2022/2024).
How far is Varsity from a hospital?
For everyday care, Varsity’s residents are 0.7 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).