Photo: Oceanflynn · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places match West Hillhurst for health: it beats 98% 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%. Measured from where West Hillhurst’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.2 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. West Hillhurst grades A+ for health, #16 of 474 in Alberta and #99 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in West Hillhurst
Smoking runs low
Around West Hillhurst, only 6.2% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
West Hillhurst’s 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 ↓
Near a hospital
The hospital is close for almost everyone in West Hillhurst: 0.9 km from its centre of population. 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.
West Hillhurst 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: #16 of 474 in Alberta and #99 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
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
Self-reported obesity, 27%, trails Alberta (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
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; West Hillhurst’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.
57% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in Alberta (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 reads like the rest of Alberta: 54% against 52%, and 23% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From West Hillhurst, a hospital is 1.2 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of West Hillhurst, 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, West Hillhurst is on the near side. 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.
Level with regions as deprived, give or take a few months
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and West Hillhurst’s region shows close to the trend.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.3, the expected figure is 83.2 years, and West Hillhurst’s region matches it closely with 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.
Among 40 towns its size, West Hillhurst is 5th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,129 to 10,498 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Central ON B+ | 10,392 | 0.6 km | 52% |
| 2 | City Centre ON B+ | 10,269 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 3 | Professors Lake ON A− | 10,335 | 1.0 km | 49% |
| 4 | Coal Harbour BC A+ | 10,407 | 1.0 km | 50% |
| 5 | West Hillhurst AB A+ | 10,319 | 1.2 km | 56% |
| 6 | Taber AB B− | 10,175 | 1.3 km | 52% |
| 7 | Markham Village ON A | 10,319 | 1.3 km | 51% |
| 40 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands ON C+ | 10,185 | 26 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around West Hillhurst
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Hillhurst | 1.2 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Spruce Cliff 1.5 km | 1.6 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Wildwood 1.6 km | 1.4 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| University Heights 1.9 km | 1.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Hillhurst 2.0 km | 2.1 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Banff Trail 2.2 km | 1.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Capitol Hill 2.5 km | 2.9 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
Nothing in the regional columns separates West Hillhurst from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are West Hillhurst’s own.
- 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.
- 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 West Hillhurst
How healthy is West Hillhurst?
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%.
How is West Hillhurst’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for West Hillhurst: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in West Hillhurst?
For the health region that includes West Hillhurst, women can expect 85.0 years and men 80.9 (2022/2024).
How far is West Hillhurst from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 0.8 km from the average resident of West Hillhurst, 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).