Life expectancy around Samson 137 is 79.1 years, 2.4 less than for the typical Canadian town
Self-rated health is ordinary for Alberta: 52% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 53%. Measured from where Samson 137’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 18 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Samson 137 is a First Nations reserve: a Health grade is possible, an overall grade and a ranking are not. People on reserves are outside the survey’s sample: the figures here are the surrounding region’s, and don’t describe Samson 137 itself. Health gives Samson 137 a grade of C.
What stands out about health in Samson 137
Hospital care at a distance
Distance is Samson 137’s own health question: 0% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 17 km. Getting care ↓
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Samson 137 than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 12% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A long way to a pharmacy
Picking up a prescription in Samson 137 takes a trip of 18 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. Getting care ↓
Harder circumstances
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Samson 137’s neighbourhoods average 5.0 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Samson 137 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.
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.
Getting to hospital from Samson 137: 18 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Samson 137, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Samson 137 travel further than most of the province: the typical town in Alberta is 3.1 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km. 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (24%) and diabetes (8.9%)
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
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.
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
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 Samson 137’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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 0.8 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Samson 137’s region’s dot is under the line.
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 3.3 about 79.9 years of life. Samson 137’s region falls short of it, at 79.1. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores outlive it (9 of 10, median 81.2 years). Its towns’ household income, about $85,000, sits above most regions’ while its life expectancy sits below; across regions it is the deprivation index, not income, that follows lives (income’s 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.
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
Mental health is no outlier: 54% say very good or excellent (Alberta: 52%) and 22% live with stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Health in the places around Samson 137
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samson 137 | 18 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Ermineskin 138 8.2 km | 15 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Louis Bull 138B 15 km | 18 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Ponoka 17 km | 1.2 km | 52% | 79.1 | C+ |
One health region covers Samson 137 and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same. Residents of Ponoka live nearer a hospital, at 1.2 km against 18 km in Samson 137.
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.
- 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.
- 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. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Samson 137’s own.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Samson 137
How far is Samson 137 from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 18 km from the average resident of Samson 137, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
What is the life expectancy in Samson 137?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 81.7 for women, 76.6 for men around Samson 137 (2022/2024).
How is Samson 137’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 Samson 137’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town. Being a First Nations reserve, it has no overall grade or ranking, and its regional survey figures come from people living off reserve.
How healthy is Samson 137?
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 19% 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).