Photo: Odysseus1479 · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Central McDougall, 51% of adults call their health very good or excellent
Life expectancy in the region is 81.2 years (83.6 for women, 78.8 for men, 2022/2024). What sets Central McDougall apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 0.6 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Central McDougall a grade of B+, #175 of 474 in Alberta and #1,275 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Central McDougall
Near a hospital
Measured from where people live, Central McDougall is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 0.6 km away. Getting care ↓
Harder circumstances
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Central McDougall at 4.8 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
A typical home in Central McDougall has 23 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.5 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Central McDougall 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: #175 of 474 in Alberta and #1,275 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.
From Central McDougall, a hospital is 0.6 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Central McDougall’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, Central McDougall 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.
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
Among the 5 regions in Alberta, from 78.3 to 83.0 years, this one is 2nd.
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 Central McDougall’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Central McDougall’s region is near the line.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Central McDougall’s region fits it, 81.2 years at 2.8 against the line’s 81.4. Half the 10 regions scored most like it do better (4) and half worse (4), around a median of 81.2.
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.
High blood pressure for 19% of adults in the region, diabetes for 7.4%
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
Obesity is close to the province’s level, 33% 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.
52% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to 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
Asked about their mental health, 51% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Alberta it was 52%, and 24% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Central McDougall is 2nd nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,702 to 4,884 people, median 7.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North End East ON B+ | 4,816 | 0.4 km | 53% |
| 2 | Central McDougall AB B+ | 4,802 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 3 | Barrhead AB C− | 4,768 | 0.7 km | 48% |
| 4 | Richmond AB A+ | 4,811 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 40 | Hampton NB D | 4,754 | 32 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Central McDougall
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central McDougall | 0.6 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Queen Mary Park 1.1 km | 1.0 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| McCauley 1.2 km | 0.5 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Downtown 1.6 km | 0.9 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Boyle Street 1.7 km | 0.8 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Wîhkwêntôwin 1.8 km | 0.8 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Alberta Avenue 2.2 km | 1.3 km | 51% | 81.2 | B+ |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Central McDougall’s; read across for the hospital trip.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Central McDougall itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
Questions about health in Central McDougall
How far is Central McDougall from a hospital?
Residents of Central McDougall have a pharmacy 0.5 km away on average, in a straight line.
What is the life expectancy in Central McDougall?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 83.6 for women, 78.8 for men around Central McDougall (2022/2024).
How healthy is Central McDougall?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 18% of adults.
How is Central McDougall’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Central McDougall’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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).