Photo: Enzenberger · CC BY-SA 3.0Life expectancy around Wetaskiwin is 79.1 years, 2.4 less than for the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 52% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Alberta’s 53%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 2.0 km from the average resident of Wetaskiwin, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Wetaskiwin grades C+ for health, #407 of 474 in Alberta and #2,161 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Wetaskiwin
More smokers
Around Wetaskiwin, 12% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Pharmacies far off
Picking up a prescription in Wetaskiwin takes a trip of 34 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. Getting care ↓
More households under strain
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Wetaskiwin at 4.4 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
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.
Wetaskiwin 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: #407 of 474 in Alberta and #2,161 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.
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
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.
From Wetaskiwin, a hospital is 2.0 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Wetaskiwin, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Wetaskiwin are closer than most of the province: the typical town in Alberta is 3.1 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 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.
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
This region is 3rd longest-lived of 5 in Alberta, on a scale from 78.3 to 83.0 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Wetaskiwin 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.
The region lives 0.8 years less than its deprivation predicts
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Wetaskiwin’s region’s dot is under the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 3.3, the expected figure is 79.9 years, and Wetaskiwin’s region falls below with 79.1. It is outlived by 9 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 81.2 years. Households here earn around $85,000, more than in most regions, but the region still lives less long than most; across regions income barely tracks life expectancy (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 wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 54% very good or excellent against 52% for Alberta; stress is a daily matter for 22%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Mid-table for hospital distance among towns its size: Wetaskiwin comes 16th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (13,382 to 14,030 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Queen West ON A | 13,599 | 0.4 km | 50% |
| 2 | Sillery QC A+ | 13,950 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | Vanier QC A+ | 13,494 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 14 | Oakridge ON A | 13,913 | 1.7 km | 50% |
| 15 | The Maples MB B+ | 13,766 | 1.9 km | 52% |
| 16 | Wetaskiwin AB C+ | 13,703 | 2.0 km | 52% |
| 17 | Strathcona BC A+ | 13,783 | 2.2 km | 50% |
| 18 | Ionview ON A | 13,382 | 2.4 km | 50% |
| 40 | Lorette MB C+ | 13,509 | 16 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Wetaskiwin
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wetaskiwin | 2.0 km | 52% | 79.1 | C+ |
| Ermineskin 138 14 km | 15 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Millet 15 km | 14 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
| Louis Bull 138B 17 km | 18 km | 52% | 79.1 | C |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Wetaskiwin from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Residents of Louis Bull 138B live further from a hospital, at 18 km against 2.0 km in Wetaskiwin.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
- 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 Wetaskiwin’s own.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- 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 Wetaskiwin
How is Wetaskiwin’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Wetaskiwin’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Wetaskiwin?
There is no figure for Wetaskiwin alone; its health region’s is 81.7 for women and 76.6 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Wetaskiwin from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 34 km from the average resident of Wetaskiwin, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
How healthy is Wetaskiwin?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. 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).