Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainHealth in Didsbury 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%. What sets Didsbury apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.0 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Didsbury a grade of A+, #8 of 474 in Alberta and #79 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Didsbury
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around Didsbury is well below the typical town’s; 6.2% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Born around Didsbury, 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
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 4.8 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 57%. Health survey ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Didsbury; from its centre of population the trip is 0.6 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Didsbury 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: #8 of 474 in Alberta and #79 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
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 27% of adults against 32% for Alberta.
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
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
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Didsbury’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.
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
Asked about their mental health, 54% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Alberta it was 52%, and 23% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Didsbury: 1.0 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Didsbury, weighted by who lives there.
Didsbury is closer in 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.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which falls just short of the trend
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Didsbury’s lies near the line.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Didsbury belongs to lives about as long as its score of 2.3 predicts: 83.0 years, the trend 83.2. 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Didsbury comes 3rd of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,106 to 5,262 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Alexander MB B+ | 5,161 | 0.5 km | 52% |
| 2 | Heritage SK B+ | 5,172 | 0.5 km | 49% |
| 3 | Didsbury AB A+ | 5,185 | 1.0 km | 56% |
| 4 | Mt. Hope Huron Park ON A | 5,174 | 1.1 km | 53% |
| 5 | Waverley Heights MB B+ | 5,252 | 1.1 km | 52% |
| 40 | Big Lakes County AB D− | 5,106 | 53 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Didsbury
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Didsbury | 1.0 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Carstairs 12 km | 12 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
| Olds 15 km | 1.3 km | 52% | 79.1 | C+ |
| Mountain View County 17 km | 15 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Not every neighbour shares the region: Olds’s life expectancy is 79.1, this region’s 83.0. Mountain View County is the furthest from care, 15 km to Didsbury’s 1.0 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Didsbury itself is the trip to care.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
Questions about health in Didsbury
How healthy is Didsbury?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Didsbury?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.0 for women, 80.9 for men around Didsbury (2022/2024).
How is Didsbury’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Didsbury has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Didsbury from a hospital?
Residents of Didsbury have a pharmacy 0.7 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).