Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHealth in Southesk trails 97% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 47% very good or excellent, against 44% in New Brunswick. What sets Southesk apart within its region is distance: 25 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 32% of residents. Southesk grades D− for health.
What stands out about health in Southesk
More smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Southesk is well above the typical town’s; 19% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Distance is Southesk’s own health question: 32% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 22 km. Getting care ↓
A region where lives run shorter
Born around Southesk, a child can expect 2.6 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 19.8 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 29% report high blood pressure and 17% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Southesk grades D− 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.
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.
High blood pressure for 29% of adults in the region, diabetes for 17%
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
Self-reported obesity, 44%, sits within a few points of New Brunswick (42%).
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. Statistics Canada flags heavy drinking “use with caution”.
Getting to hospital from Southesk: 25 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Southesk’s own, not the region’s.
Southesk is further out than the provincial norm of 11 km in New Brunswick, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. The clinic list is thin in New Brunswick: 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 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
Last of the 7 regions in New Brunswick: the highest figure is 81.5, 2.6 years above the lowest.
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 Southesk’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The region lives 1.3 years longer than its deprivation predicts
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Southesk’s lies above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 3.9 on the index, the line expects 77.6 years; Southesk’s region reaches 78.9. It outlives 7 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 78.3 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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in New Brunswick: 46% 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
Asked about their mental health, 47% of adults here said very good or excellent; across New Brunswick it was 49%, and 17% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Health in the places around Southesk
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southesk | 25 km | 47% | 78.9 | D− |
| Northesk 6.4 km | 18 km | 47% | 78.9 | D− |
| Nelson 11 km | 15 km | 47% | 78.9 | D |
| Blackville 16 km | 35 km | 47% | 78.9 | D− |
Only the hospital column is local here: Southesk and its neighbours share one health region’s survey.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Southesk alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Southesk
How far is Southesk from a hospital?
For everyday care, Southesk’s residents are 22 km from a pharmacy on average.
How is Southesk’s 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 Southesk’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Southesk?
Women in Southesk’s region live to 82.0 on average and men to 75.7, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Southesk?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 21% 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).