Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0Expect 79.1 years of life in the region around Ponoka County, 2.4 under the typical Canadian town
On self-rated health the region tracks the province: 52% very good or excellent, 53% for Alberta. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Ponoka County’s is long: 13 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Ponoka County grades C for health, #421 of 474 in Alberta and #2,269 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Ponoka County
A region that smokes more
The age-standardised smoking rate around Ponoka County is well above the typical town’s; 12% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A long way to hospital
For 0% of homes in Ponoka County the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 22 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Ponoka County 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: #421 of 474 in Alberta and #2,269 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 24% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.9%
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
More adults report obesity than across Alberta: 39%, the province 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 Ponoka County: 13 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Ponoka County, weighted by who lives there.
Ponoka County is further out than the provincial norm of 3.1 km in Alberta, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. Homes are spread out: from the town’s centre of population the hospital is 22 km, while the average resident is 13 km away. 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.
0.8 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Ponoka County’s region comes out below the trend.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 3.3 would suggest 79.9 years, but Ponoka County’s region stops at 79.1. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 9 of them above it, a median of 81.2. Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $85,000 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.
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
Of the 5 health regions in Alberta, 3rd place goes to this one, between a low of 78.3 and a high of 83.0.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Ponoka County’s 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Alberta: 51% to 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, 54% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Alberta it was 52%, and 22% 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, Ponoka County is 34th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,407 to 10,896 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Sacrement QC A+ | 10,650 | 0.4 km | 62% |
| 2 | Weston-Pelham Park ON A | 10,680 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Bendale South ON A | 10,885 | 0.9 km | 50% |
| 32 | Yarmouth NS D | 10,637 | 9.4 km | 44% |
| 33 | Saint-Zotique QC A | 10,445 | 9.5 km | 55% |
| 34 | Ponoka County AB C | 10,670 | 13 km | 52% |
| 35 | Corman Park No. 344 SK B | 10,463 | 14 km | 49% |
| 36 | Lynden ON B− | 10,442 | 14 km | 53% |
| 40 | Contrecoeur QC B+ | 10,708 | 22 km | 55% |
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
- 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. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Ponoka County alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
Questions about health in Ponoka County
What is the life expectancy in Ponoka County?
There is no figure for Ponoka County alone; its health region’s is 81.7 for women and 76.6 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Ponoka County from a hospital?
For everyday care, Ponoka County’s residents are 13 km from a pharmacy on average.
How is Ponoka County’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Ponoka County: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Ponoka County?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. 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).