Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainPeople in Cardston’s health region live to 78.7 on average, 2.8 years short of the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 52% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Alberta’s 53%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.0 km from the average resident of Cardston, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Cardston grades B for health, #373 of 474 in Alberta and #1,936 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Cardston
Near a hospital
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Cardston; from its centre of population the trip is 1.0 km. 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.
Cardston grades B 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: #373 of 474 in Alberta and #1,936 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.
Getting to hospital from Cardston: 1.0 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Cardston’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 3.1 km for the typical town in Alberta and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Cardston 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.2 years short of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Cardston’s region is below the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Cardston’s region, at 3.3, should live about 79.9 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 78.7. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 81.2 years. Households here earn around $83,000, more than in most regions, but the region still lives less long than most; across regions income barely tracks life expectancy (correlation 0.14).
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.3%)
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 39%, self-reported obesity is above 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
Regional life expectancy in Alberta, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
This region is 4th longest-lived of 5 in Alberta, on a scale from 78.3 to 83.0 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Cardston’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health much as in Alberta: 53% to 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
On mental health the region tracks Alberta, 53% very good or excellent to 52%; 22% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Cardston is 3rd nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,787 to 3,930 people, median 5.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City Park SK A− | 3,827 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Clareview Town Centre AB B+ | 3,800 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 3 | Cardston AB B | 3,863 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 4 | Pincher Creek AB B | 3,890 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 5 | Norwood East MB B+ | 3,881 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 40 | Forty Mile County No. 8 AB C | 3,927 | 29 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Cardston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardston | 1.0 km | 52% | 78.7 | B |
| Cardston County 9.0 km | 15 km | 52% | 78.7 | C+ |
| Blood 148 17 km | 19 km | 52% | 78.7 | C+ |
Cardston and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t. Residents of Blood 148 live further from a hospital, at 19 km against 1.0 km in Cardston.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Cardston itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
Questions about health in Cardston
What is the life expectancy in Cardston?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Cardston’s health region only: 80.6 years for women and 76.8 for men (2022/2024).
How is Cardston’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Cardston’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Cardston from a hospital?
Residents of Cardston have a pharmacy 1.0 km away on average, in a straight line.
How healthy is Cardston?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 19%.
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).