Photo: SempreVolando · CC BY 3.0Health in Lac la Biche County trails 89% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 48% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Alberta as a whole reaches 53%. What sets Lac la Biche County apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 11 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Lac la Biche County is D, #454 of 474 in Alberta and #2,497 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Lac la Biche County
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Lac la Biche County runs 3.2 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.7 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A region that smokes more
Around Lac la Biche County, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run high
High blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.9%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Residents of Lac la Biche County live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (1.5 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Lac la Biche County grades D 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: #454 of 474 in Alberta and #2,497 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.
How the 5 health regions in Alberta compare on life expectancy
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
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
This is the one part of the block measured for Lac la Biche County itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
22% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 9.9% diabetes
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 41%, self-reported obesity is above Alberta’s 32%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (25% against 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.
The nearest hospital is 11 km from the average home in Lac la Biche County
Straight-line distances from each part of Lac la Biche County, 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, Lac la Biche County is on the far side. Homes are spread out: from the town’s centre of population the hospital is 1.5 km, while the average resident is 11 km away. 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 all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which falls just short of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Lac la Biche County’s region is near the line.
Deprivation explains most of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), and Lac la Biche County’s region is a typical case: 78.3 years at a score of 3.7, where the trend says 78.5. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 7 of them above it, a median of 78.9. Income would point the wrong way: households in the region’s towns earn about $112,000, more than in most regions, yet lives here are shorter than in most (across regions, income and life expectancy correlate at just 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Alberta: 49% 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
Mental health trails Alberta: 48% very good or excellent to 52%, with 24% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Lac la Biche County is 34th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (8,421 to 8,744 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garneau AB B+ | 8,492 | 0.5 km | 51% |
| 2 | West Centretown ON A+ | 8,560 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 3 | Iqaluit NU D | 8,612 | 0.8 km | 39% |
| 32 | Canterbury Park MB B | 8,744 | 6.8 km | 52% |
| 33 | Rosewood SK B+ | 8,427 | 7.0 km | 49% |
| 34 | Lac la Biche County AB D | 8,580 | 11 km | 48% |
| 35 | Puslinch ON B | 8,577 | 11 km | 51% |
| 36 | Tavistock ON C+ | 8,710 | 12 km | 49% |
| 40 | Muskoka Lakes ON B | 8,463 | 20 km | 54% |
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
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Lac la Biche County alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Lac la Biche County
What is the life expectancy in Lac la Biche County?
There is no figure for Lac la Biche County alone; its health region’s is 80.9 for women and 76.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Lac la Biche County’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 Lac la Biche County’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Lac la Biche County from a hospital?
For everyday care, Lac la Biche County’s residents are 11 km from a pharmacy on average.
How healthy is Lac la Biche County?
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 21% of adults.
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).