Photo: Quincylvania · CC0The region around Bishop's Falls carries more chronic illness than the typical Canadian town: 22% to 17%
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 54%, ahead of the 52% for Newfoundland and Labrador. Measured from where Bishop's Falls’ residents live, the nearest hospital is 15 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Bishop's Falls grades C− for health, #16 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #2,378 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Bishop's Falls
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Bishop's Falls runs 2.5 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 18.9 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A long way to hospital
Residents of Bishop's Falls live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (15 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
More smokers
Around Bishop's Falls, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Deprivation runs high
With a situational-vulnerability score of 4.4 out of 5, Bishop's Falls sits in the index’s harder-pressed areas. 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.
Bishop's Falls 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: #16 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #2,378 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.
Life expectancy across the 5 health regions in Newfoundland and Labrador
Regional life expectancy in Newfoundland and Labrador, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
The region comes 2nd of 5 in Newfoundland and Labrador, where life expectancy runs from 77.1 to 80.2 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Bishop's Falls’ 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.
The nearest hospital is 15 km from the average home in Bishop's Falls
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Bishop's Falls’ own, not the region’s.
Bishop's Falls is further out than the provincial norm of 8.5 km in Newfoundland and Labrador, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km.
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.
33% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 13% diabetes
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
More adults report obesity than across Newfoundland and Labrador: 46%, the province 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.
The region lives 1.2 years longer than its deprivation predicts
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Bishop's Falls’ region comes out above the trend.
Measured against 102 regions, more deprivation means shorter lives, and steadily so (correlation −0.83). Bishop's Falls’ region, at 3.9, outlives the trend’s 77.8 years with 79.0. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and it still beats 7, with 78.3 years in the middle.
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 Newfoundland and Labrador: 51% and 50%
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 looks better than in the province too: 59% rate it very good or excellent, against 54% in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 11% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Bishop's Falls comes 30th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,114 to 3,203 people, median 7.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blakeley ON B+ | 3,151 | 0.4 km | 53% |
| 2 | Cedar Hill ON A | 3,190 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 3 | St. Clair ON B+ | 3,201 | 0.7 km | 53% |
| 28 | Minburn County No. 27 AB C | 3,142 | 13 km | 52% |
| 29 | Beaumont QC A− | 3,188 | 13 km | 59% |
| 30 | Bishop's Falls NL C− | 3,162 | 15 km | 54% |
| 31 | Saint-Liboire QC A− | 3,123 | 15 km | 55% |
| 32 | Pincher Creek No. 9 AB C+ | 3,176 | 17 km | 52% |
| 40 | Houston BC D− | 3,114 | 54 km | 42% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Bishop's Falls
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop's Falls | 15 km | 54% | 79.0 | C− |
| Grand Falls-Windsor 14 km | 2.1 km | 54% | 79.0 | C |
| Botwood 17 km | 32 km | 54% | 79.0 | D |
Same region, same survey: Bishop's Falls’ neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital. Botwood is the furthest from care, 32 km to Bishop's Falls’ 15 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Bishop's Falls itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Bishop's Falls
What is the life expectancy in Bishop's Falls?
For the health region that includes Bishop's Falls, women can expect 80.5 years and men 77.4 (2022/2024).
How far is Bishop's Falls from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Bishop's Falls is 13 km from a clinic and 2.0 km from a pharmacy.
How is Bishop's Falls’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Bishop's Falls’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Bishop's Falls?
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 22%.
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).