Photo: Shoju foge · CC BY-SA 3.0Expect 79.1 years of life in the region around Vermilion, 2.4 under the typical Canadian town
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Alberta, 52% against 53%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Vermilion is well placed: 1.5 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Vermilion grades C+ for health, #404 of 474 in Alberta and #2,138 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Vermilion
A region that smokes more
Smoking is commoner around Vermilion than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 12% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A hospital close by
Measured from where people live, Vermilion is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 1.5 km away. Getting care ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Vermilion 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: #404 of 474 in Alberta and #2,138 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
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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 39% of adults against 32% for Alberta.
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 1.5 km from the average home in Vermilion
Straight-line distances from each part of Vermilion, weighted by who lives there.
Vermilion is closer in than the provincial norm of 3.1 km in Alberta, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. 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.
The region lives 0.8 years less than its deprivation predicts
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Vermilion’s region is below the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Vermilion’s region, at 3.3, should live about 79.9 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 79.1. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it trails the majority, 9 of 10; their median is 81.2 years. Income would point the wrong way: households in the region’s towns earn about $85,000, 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.
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
Life expectancy in Alberta runs from 78.3 to 83.0; this region sits 3rd of the 5.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Vermilion 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.
51% 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 reads like the rest of Alberta: 54% against 52%, and 22% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Vermilion is 6th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,125 to 4,259 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 2 | La Pocatière QC A | 4,206 | 0.9 km | 60% |
| 3 | Sunalta AB A+ | 4,151 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 4 | Balfour ON B | 4,171 | 1.0 km | 53% |
| 5 | Wildwood AB A+ | 4,177 | 1.4 km | 56% |
| 6 | Vermilion AB C+ | 4,192 | 1.5 km | 52% |
| 7 | Malmo Plains AB B+ | 4,150 | 1.5 km | 51% |
| 8 | Port Hardy BC A− | 4,201 | 1.9 km | 54% |
| 40 | Napierville QC A− | 4,187 | 19 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
- 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 Vermilion’s own.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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 Vermilion
What is the life expectancy in Vermilion?
For the health region that includes Vermilion, women can expect 81.7 years and men 76.6 (2022/2024).
How is Vermilion’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Vermilion’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Vermilion from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 1.0 km from the average resident of Vermilion, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
How healthy is Vermilion?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 19%.
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).