Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOnly 45% of adults around Douglas call their health very good or excellent, below the typical Canadian town’s 52%
People in the region live to 80.1 on average: 81.9 for women and 78.2 for men in 2022/2024. What sets Douglas apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 16 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Douglas is C−, #45 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,392 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Douglas
Far from a hospital
Distance is Douglas’ own health question: 8% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 15 km. Getting care ↓
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Douglas than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 11% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Douglas runs 1.4 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.6 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Douglas 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: #45 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,392 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.
The nearest hospital is 16 km from the average home in Douglas
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Douglas’ own, not the region’s.
Residents of Douglas travel further than most of the province: the typical town in New Brunswick is 11 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km. 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (9.4%)
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 lower than in the province, at 39% of adults against 42% for 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.
How the 7 health regions in New Brunswick compare on life expectancy
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 3rd 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
The index is context and never graded: it describes Douglas’ own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.0 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Douglas’ region’s dot is under the line.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 2.9 would suggest 81.1 years, but Douglas’ region stops at 80.1. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 9 of them above it, a median of 81.2.
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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in New Brunswick: 44% and 43%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region is behind New Brunswick, 45% very good or excellent to 49%; 26% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Douglas is 34th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 6,690 to 6,997 people, median 4.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth ON B | 6,972 | 1.0 km | 51% |
| 2 | Devon AB B+ | 6,965 | 1.0 km | 51% |
| 3 | Old Ottawa South ON A+ | 6,704 | 1.0 km | 56% |
| 32 | Rhineland MB B− | 6,819 | 11 km | 51% |
| 33 | Harrietsfield NS B | 6,786 | 11 km | 51% |
| 34 | Douglas NB C− | 6,840 | 16 km | 45% |
| 35 | Lucan ON B | 6,827 | 17 km | 52% |
| 36 | Southern Gulf Islands BC A | 6,691 | 17 km | 55% |
| 40 | Thunder Bay, Unorganized ON D | 6,831 | 37 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Douglas
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas | 16 km | 45% | 80.1 | C− |
| Bright 13 km | 23 km | 45% | 80.1 | C− |
| Fredericton 14 km | 4.0 km | 45% | 80.1 | C |
| Devon 30 14 km | 5.8 km | 45% | 80.1 | C |
| Starlight Village 17 km | 9.6 km | 45% | 80.1 | C |
| Kingsclear 18 km | 17 km | 45% | 80.1 | C− |
| New Maryland 18 km | 5.6 km | 45% | 80.1 | C |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Douglas’; read across for the hospital trip. Residents of Fredericton live nearer a hospital, at 4.0 km against 16 km in Douglas.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Douglas itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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.
Questions about health in Douglas
How healthy is Douglas?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Chronic conditions there average 18% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Douglas from a hospital?
Residents of Douglas have a pharmacy 8.3 km away on average, in a straight line.
How is Douglas’ Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Douglas’ homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Douglas?
There is no figure for Douglas alone; its health region’s is 81.9 for women and 78.2 for men in 2022/2024.
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).