Photo: Connorbrown22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places match High River for health: it beats 97% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 56% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Alberta as a whole manages 53%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.7 km from the average resident of High River, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives High River a grade of A+, #35 of 474 in Alberta and #138 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in High River
Fewer smokers
Smoking is rarer around High River than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 6.2% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
High River’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 ↓
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.
High River 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: #35 of 474 in Alberta and #138 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%
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 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 5 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; High River’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%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Neither ahead nor behind Alberta on mental health (54% to 52%), the region has 23% of adults stressed most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Life expectancy close to where deprivation puts it, a shade under
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and High River’s region shows close to the trend.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region High River belongs to lives about as long as its score of 2.3 predicts: 83.0 years, the trend 83.2. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (7 of 10), with 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.
Getting to hospital from High River: 1.7 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of High River, 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, High River is on the near side. 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: High River comes 9th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (15,194 to 15,792 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trinity-Bellwoods ON A | 15,691 | 0.5 km | 50% |
| 2 | Little Portugal ON A | 15,669 | 0.8 km | 50% |
| 3 | Loretteville QC A+ | 15,653 | 1.0 km | 62% |
| 7 | Saint-Louis QC A+ | 15,792 | 1.4 km | 62% |
| 8 | Pembroke ON C+ | 15,479 | 1.5 km | 50% |
| 9 | High River AB A+ | 15,508 | 1.7 km | 56% |
| 10 | Parksville BC B | 15,371 | 1.7 km | 47% |
| 11 | Parc-Jarry QC A | 15,699 | 1.7 km | 54% |
| 40 | Sainte-Adèle QC A | 15,216 | 16 km | 60% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around High River
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High River | 1.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Okotoks 17 km | 1.7 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
Same region, same survey: High River’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
- 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 High River’s own.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in High River
How is High River’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and High River’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is High River?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in High River?
Women in High River’s region live to 85.0 on average and men to 80.9, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is High River from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 1.4 km from the average resident of High River, 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).