Photo: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domainFor health, Harbour Grace sits behind 90% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 44%, behind the 52% for Newfoundland and Labrador. Measured from where Harbour Grace’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 4.9 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Harbour Grace grades D for health, #24 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #2,516 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Harbour Grace
A heavier load of illness
For its ages, the region carries more long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 36% of adults, diabetes for 15%. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Harbour Grace’s region sits 2.9 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 18.9 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A region that smokes more
Around Harbour Grace, 13% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 7.4 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (42% as answered). Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Harbour Grace 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. Its place: #24 of 32 in Newfoundland and Labrador and #2,516 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.
High blood pressure for 36% of adults in the region, diabetes for 15%
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, 48%, tops Newfoundland and Labrador (42%).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Longest and shortest lives among the 5 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
Of the 5 health regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 3rd place goes to this one, between a low of 77.1 and a high of 80.2.
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 Harbour Grace’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Newfoundland and Labrador: 42% to 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
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across Newfoundland and Labrador (56% against 54%), while 15% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
As long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly longer
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Harbour Grace’s region sits on the trend line through 102 regions.
At 3.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 78.3 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions), and the one Harbour Grace belongs to reaches 78.6. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and it still beats 6, with 78.2 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.
Getting to hospital from Harbour Grace: 4.9 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Harbour Grace’s own, not the region’s.
From Harbour Grace that is nearer than the 8.5 km of the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
Harbour Grace is 19th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 2,838 to 2,909 people, median 5.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westmount SK A− | 2,872 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 2 | McKernan AB B+ | 2,880 | 0.9 km | 51% |
| 3 | Minnedosa MB B− | 2,859 | 1.0 km | 51% |
| 17 | Normanview West SK B | 2,866 | 3.3 km | 49% |
| 18 | South Keys ON A | 2,865 | 3.9 km | 56% |
| 19 | Harbour Grace NL D | 2,872 | 4.9 km | 44% |
| 20 | Bridgeport North ON A | 2,858 | 5.0 km | 53% |
| 21 | Paisley AB B | 2,897 | 5.9 km | 51% |
| 40 | Saint-Michel-des-Saints QC B | 2,841 | 76 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Harbour Grace
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour Grace | 4.9 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Upper Island Cove 4.1 km | 8.5 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Carbonear 5.6 km | 1.4 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Spaniard's Bay 8.5 km | 12 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Victoria 9.1 km | 5.1 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Bay Roberts 11 km | 16 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
The neighbours all sit in Harbour Grace’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Bay Roberts is the furthest from care, 16 km to Harbour Grace’s 4.9 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Harbour Grace’s own.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- 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.
- 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 Harbour Grace
How healthy is Harbour Grace?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 24% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Harbour Grace?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 80.8 for women, 76.4 for men around Harbour Grace (2022/2024).
How is Harbour Grace’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Harbour Grace has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Harbour Grace from a hospital?
Residents of Harbour Grace have a clinic 37 km away on average and a pharmacy 5.1 km away, in straight lines.
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).