Photo: Qyd · CC BY-SA 3.0Life expectancy around Edson is 78.3 years, 3.2 less than for the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 48% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Alberta as a whole reaches 53%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Edson is well placed: 2.3 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Edson grades C− for health, #448 of 474 in Alberta and #2,408 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Edson
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Edson is well above the typical town’s; 14% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
More chronic illness
High blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.9%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Deprivation runs high
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Edson at 4.3 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
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.
Edson grades C− 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: #448 of 474 in Alberta and #2,408 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.9%)
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, 41%, tops Alberta (32%). More adults drink heavily, 25% to the province’s 19%.
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
No region of the 5 in Alberta has shorter lives than this one; the longest-lived reaches 83.0, a gap of 4.7 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Edson’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
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); Edson’s region is near the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Edson’s region, at 3.7, should live about 78.5 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 78.3, near enough. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, longer lives win out: 7 of the 10, around a median of 78.9 years. Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $112,000 a household, above most regions’, with a life expectancy below most; income and lifespan correlate at only 0.14 across regions.
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.
Getting to hospital from Edson: 2.3 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Edson’s own, not the region’s.
That is close to the 3.1 km of the typical town in Alberta (the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km), as Edson goes. 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.
49% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer 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
On mental health the region is behind Alberta, 48% very good or excellent to 52%; 24% 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, Edson is 12th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 8,511 to 8,873 people, median 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Centretown ON A+ | 8,560 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 2 | Iqaluit NU D | 8,612 | 0.8 km | 39% |
| 3 | Innisfail AB C+ | 8,736 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 10 | Trail BC A | 8,539 | 1.7 km | 55% |
| 11 | Nicolet QC A | 8,737 | 2.3 km | 61% |
| 12 | Edson AB C− | 8,692 | 2.3 km | 48% |
| 13 | Crestview MB B+ | 8,658 | 2.3 km | 52% |
| 14 | Delson QC A | 8,802 | 2.5 km | 55% |
| 40 | Stone Mills ON B− | 8,523 | 20 km | 53% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Edson shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
Questions about health in Edson
What is the life expectancy in Edson?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 80.9 for women, 76.1 for men around Edson (2022/2024).
How healthy is Edson?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 21%.
How is Edson’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 Edson’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Edson from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Edson is 1.3 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
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).