Photo: Glenlarson~commonswiki · Public domainLives run shorter around Slave Lake: 78.3 years, 3.2 below the typical Canadian town’s region
In the health survey, 48% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Alberta’s 53%. What sets Slave Lake apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.0 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Slave Lake a grade of C−, #439 of 474 in Alberta and #2,362 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Slave Lake
A region that smokes more
Smoking is commoner around Slave Lake than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 14% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run high
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 22% report high blood pressure and 9.9% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
More households under strain
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Slave Lake’s neighbourhoods average 4.6 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. The wider area ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Slave Lake; from its centre of population the trip is 1.1 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Slave Lake 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: #439 of 474 in Alberta and #2,362 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 22% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.9%
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: 41%, the province 32%. At 25%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 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 1.0 km from the average home in Slave Lake
Straight-line distances from each part of Slave Lake, weighted by who lives there.
From Slave Lake that is nearer than the 3.1 km of the typical town in Alberta, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town. 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.
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
Last of the 5 regions in Alberta: the highest figure is 83.0, 4.7 years above the lowest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Slave Lake 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.
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Slave Lake’s region, on the line, stands for every town in it.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Slave Lake belongs to lives about as long as its score of 3.7 predicts: 78.3 years, the trend 78.5. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores outlive it (7 of 10, median 78.9 years). A household income of about $112,000, 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.
49% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in Alberta (54%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 48% rate it very good or excellent, against 52% in Alberta, and 24% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Slave Lake is 5th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (7,208 to 7,464 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Currie Barracks AB A+ | 7,342 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 2 | Coronation Park SK B+ | 7,307 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 3 | Cathedral Village SK B+ | 7,311 | 0.9 km | 49% |
| 4 | Hampstead QC A | 7,464 | 1.0 km | 54% |
| 5 | Slave Lake AB C− | 7,334 | 1.0 km | 48% |
| 6 | Val-des-Sources QC A+ | 7,303 | 1.1 km | 57% |
| 7 | Bonnyville AB C− | 7,366 | 1.1 km | 48% |
| 40 | Trent Lakes ON C− | 7,357 | 30 km | 47% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Slave Lake
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slave Lake | 1.0 km | 48% | 78.3 | C− |
| Lesser Slave River No. 124 11 km | 29 km | 48% | 78.3 | D− |
Around Slave Lake the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital. Lesser Slave River No. 124 is the furthest from care, 29 km to Slave Lake’s 1.0 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Slave Lake alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- 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.
Questions about health in Slave Lake
What is the life expectancy in Slave Lake?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 80.9 for women, 76.1 for men around Slave Lake (2022/2024).
How is Slave Lake’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Slave Lake’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Slave Lake?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 21% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Slave Lake from a hospital?
For everyday care, Slave Lake’s residents are 1.1 km from a pharmacy on average.
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).