Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainLife expectancy around Olds is 79.1 years, 2.4 less than for the typical Canadian town
On self-rated health the region tracks the province: 52% very good or excellent, 53% for Alberta. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.3 km from the average resident of Olds, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Olds a grade of C+, #401 of 474 in Alberta and #2,128 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Olds
More smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Olds is well above the typical town’s; 12% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Near a hospital
The hospital is close for almost everyone in Olds: 0.9 km from its centre of population. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Olds 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: #401 of 474 in Alberta and #2,128 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.
24% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 8.9% 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
Self-reported obesity, 39%, tops Alberta (32%).
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.
Getting to hospital from Olds: 1.3 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Olds, 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, Olds 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 0.8 years behind the trend
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Olds’, lies beneath the trend.
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 3.3 about 79.9 years of life. Olds’ region falls short of it, at 79.1. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do better (9 of 10), with a median of 81.2. A household income of about $85,000, high for a region, doesn’t come with longer lives here; across regions the two barely move together (correlation 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.
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
The region comes 3rd of 5 in Alberta, where life expectancy runs from 78.3 to 83.0 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Olds’ residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health trails Alberta: 51% 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
Stress touches 22% of adults on most days; mental health is rated very good or excellent by 54%, the province 52% (Alberta).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Olds is 8th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (9,451 to 9,852 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North London ON A− | 9,584 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 2 | South Cambie BC A+ | 9,846 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Daniel McIntyre MB B+ | 9,584 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 6 | Coaldale AB B− | 9,644 | 1.2 km | 52% |
| 7 | Manor Park ON A+ | 9,491 | 1.2 km | 56% |
| 8 | Olds AB C+ | 9,653 | 1.3 km | 52% |
| 9 | Roberval QC A+ | 9,828 | 1.7 km | 66% |
| 10 | Steeles Corners ON A | 9,468 | 1.7 km | 51% |
| 40 | Shediac NB C | 9,849 | 24 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Olds
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olds | 1.3 km | 52% | 79.1 | C+ |
| Didsbury 15 km | 1.0 km | 56% | 83.0 | A+ |
| Bowden 16 km | 11 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Mountain View County 18 km | 15 km | 56% | 83.0 | A |
Across a regional line, Didsbury has its own figures: life expectancy 83.0, against 79.1 here. Mountain View County is the furthest from care, 15 km to Olds’ 1.3 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Olds shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
Questions about health in Olds
How is Olds’ Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Olds’ own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Olds?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Olds’ health region only: 81.7 years for women and 76.6 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Olds from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Olds is 1.2 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
How healthy is Olds?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. Chronic conditions there average 19% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
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).