Spence’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 1.5 years: life expectancy 80.0
In the health survey, 52% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Manitoba’s 51%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 0.9 km from the average resident of Spence, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Spence grades B+ for health, #9 of 185 in Manitoba and #1,221 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Spence
Hospital care on the doorstep
Measured from where people live, Spence is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 1.0 km away. Getting care ↓
More households under strain
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Spence at 5.0 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
A typical home in Spence has 31 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.2 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Spence grades B+ 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: #9 of 185 in Manitoba and #1,221 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.
Getting to hospital from Spence: 0.9 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Spence, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Spence are closer than most of the province: the typical town in Manitoba is 3.1 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km. The clinic list is thin in Manitoba: 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.
How the 5 health regions in Manitoba compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Manitoba, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
This region is 2nd longest-lived of 5 in Manitoba, on a scale from 68.5 to 80.7 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Spence’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Life expectancy about where the region’s deprivation puts it, a shade above
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Spence’s region shows close to the trend.
Deprivation explains most of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), and Spence’s region is a typical case: 80.0 years at a score of 3.3, where the trend says 79.9. Even beside regions as deprived, it lags: 6 of its 10 closest matches reach further, their median 81.2 years.
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.
High blood pressure for 20% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.6%
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
Self-reported obesity, 32%, trails Manitoba (36%).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Manitoba: 53% and 52%
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 close to the province’s: 51% rate it very good or excellent, against 52% in Manitoba, and 21% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Spence comes 5th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,305 to 4,460 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden BC B+ | 4,433 | 0.7 km | 57% |
| 2 | Roslyn MB B+ | 4,411 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 3 | Beaupré QC A+ | 4,314 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 4 | Invermere BC B+ | 4,305 | 0.8 km | 57% |
| 5 | Spence MB B+ | 4,378 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 6 | High Level AB C− | 4,390 | 1.0 km | 48% |
| 7 | Central Park MB B+ | 4,328 | 1.1 km | 52% |
| 40 | Eganville ON C− | 4,326 | 32 km | 50% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Spence
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spence | 0.9 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| Central Park 0.4 km | 1.1 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| West Alexander 0.7 km | 0.5 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| St. Matthews 0.8 km | 1.3 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| South Portage 1.0 km | 1.4 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| Daniel McIntyre 1.0 km | 0.8 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
| Centennial 1.1 km | 0.7 km | 52% | 80.0 | B+ |
One health region covers Spence and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Spence alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Spence
What is the life expectancy in Spence?
Women in Spence’s region live to 82.5 on average and men to 77.5, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Spence’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Spence’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Spence from a hospital?
For everyday care, Spence’s residents are 0.2 km from a pharmacy on average.
How healthy is Spence?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 18% 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).