Photo: Diablo2003 · Public domainThe region around Bathurst carries more chronic illness than the typical Canadian town: 20% to 17%
Across the region, 49% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; New Brunswick as a whole manages 44%. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Bathurst live 3.5 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. The Health grade for Bathurst is B−, #2 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,010 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Bathurst
Shorter lives in the region
Born around Bathurst, a child can expect 1.3 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 20.4 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
For a deprivation score of 4.2, the trend across regions gives 76.5 years of life; Bathurst’s region reaches 80.2. For its deprivation ↓
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.
Bathurst 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: #2 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,010 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.
Deprivation would predict shorter lives: 3.7 years more here
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Bathurst’s region is above the line.
At 4.2 on the index, the trend across 102 regions (correlation −0.83) points to 76.5 years, and the region Bathurst belongs to reaches 80.2. It tops the 10 regions closest to it on the index, which centre on 77.9 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.
Life expectancy across the 7 health regions in New Brunswick
Regional life expectancy in New Brunswick, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Ranked 2nd of 7 in New Brunswick: the regions span 78.9 to 81.5 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Bathurst’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
In the region, high blood pressure (37%) and diabetes (14%)
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 tracks the province: 40% of adults here, 42% across New Brunswick.
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 Bathurst, a hospital is 3.5 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Bathurst’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 11 km for the typical town in New Brunswick and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Bathurst is on the near side. Few clinics are listed in New Brunswick, 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.
Self-rated health beats New Brunswick: 46% very good or excellent, against 43%
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 better than in the province too: 59% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in New Brunswick, and 18% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Bathurst is 24th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 13,090 to 13,596 people, median 3.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durand ON B+ | 13,338 | 0.7 km | 53% |
| 2 | Vanier QC A+ | 13,494 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | E-F-K-Section (bramalea) ON A− | 13,596 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 22 | West Point Grey BC A+ | 13,429 | 3.2 km | 50% |
| 23 | Kincardine ON C+ | 13,169 | 3.4 km | 48% |
| 24 | Bathurst NB B− | 13,331 | 3.5 km | 49% |
| 25 | Streetsville ON A− | 13,535 | 3.7 km | 49% |
| 26 | Thornhill Woods ON A | 13,237 | 3.9 km | 51% |
| 40 | Rawdon QC B | 13,099 | 21 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Bathurst
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst | 3.5 km | 49% | 80.2 | B− |
| Bathurst 7.4 km | 11 km | 49% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Beresford 8.7 km | 5.6 km | 49% | 80.2 | B− |
| Nigadoo 13 km | 10 km | 49% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Beresford 16 km | 12 km | 49% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Petit-Rocher 18 km | 15 km | 49% | 80.2 | C+ |
Every place around Bathurst shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Petit-Rocher is the furthest from care, 15 km to Bathurst’s 3.5 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Bathurst itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
Questions about health in Bathurst
How is Bathurst’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Bathurst’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Bathurst?
For the health region that includes Bathurst, women can expect 82.7 years and men 77.8 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Bathurst?
The region does worse than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 20%.
How far is Bathurst from a hospital?
Residents of Bathurst have a pharmacy 2.2 km away on average, in a straight line.
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).