Health in St. Lawrence · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
More long-term illness in St. Lawrence’s health region: 24% on the three conditions, the typical Canadian town 17%
In the health survey, 44% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Newfoundland and Labrador’s 52%. What sets St. Lawrence apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.8 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). St. Lawrence grades D for health.
Newfoundland and Labrador: 52% · Source area for very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy: the Eastern Rural Zone
Chronic conditions
24%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Born around St. Lawrence, a child can expect 2.9 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 18.9 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More smokers
Smoking is commoner around St. Lawrence than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 13% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs low
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.4 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 42% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
No pharmacy close by
Picking up a prescription in St. Lawrence takes a trip of 34 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
St. Lawrence 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.
Very good or excellent health (44%)Better than 10% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (24%)Better than 1% of Canadian towns
Smokers (17%)Better than 11% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (78.6)Better than 16% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (1.8 km)Better than 87% of Canadian towns
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.
The wider area
How the 5 health regions in Newfoundland and Labrador compare on life expectancy
Regional life expectancy in Newfoundland and Labrador, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
78.6
years at birth, 2022/2024
18.9
more years expected at 65
3rd
longest of 5 regions in Newfoundland and Labrador
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Eastern Urban Zone80.2
Central Zone79.0
Eastern Rural Zone78.6
Western Zone78.5
Labrador-Grenfell Zone77.1
This region is 3rd longest-lived of 5 in Newfoundland and Labrador, on a scale from 77.1 to 80.2 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.4
Economic dependency4.7
Ethno-cultural composition1.0
Situational vulnerability4.2
The index is context and never graded: it describes St. Lawrence’s 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.
Conditions and habits
36% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 15% diabetes
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
36%
Arthritis
42%
Diabetes
15%
Obese (self-reported)
48%
Mood disorder
16%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
17%
Smoke every day
13%
Heavy drinking
24%
Flu shot in the past year
39%
Newfoundland and Labrador
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 48% of adults against 42% for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Health survey
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Newfoundland and Labrador: 42% to 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
42%
Health fair or poor
21%
Mental health very good or excellent
56%
Mental health fair or poor
14%
Most days quite a bit stressful
15%
Strong sense of belonging
76%
Satisfied with life
86%
Newfoundland and Labrador
The region’s 56% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 54%, with 15% reporting stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 1.8 km from the average home in St. Lawrence
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is St. Lawrence’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
1.8 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
24 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
34 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
From St. Lawrence 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.
Life expectancy about where the region’s deprivation puts it, a shade above
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for St. Lawrence’s region, on the line, stands for every town in it.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Canada’s 102 health regions show life expectancy dropping as deprivation climbs (correlation −0.83); a region scored 3.7 would be expected to reach 78.3 years, and St. Lawrence’s region is close, at 78.6. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean shorter-lived: 6 of them below it, a median of 78.2.
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.
How to read these numbers
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 St. Lawrence itself is the trip to care.
•
Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
•
Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
•
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.
•
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.
•
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.
Questions about health in St. Lawrence
How is St. Lawrence’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so St. Lawrence has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is St. Lawrence?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 24% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in St. Lawrence?
For the health region that includes St. Lawrence, women can expect 80.8 years and men 76.4 (2022/2024).
How far is St. Lawrence from a hospital?
A clinic is 24 km from the average resident of St. Lawrence and a pharmacy 34 km, as the crow flies.
Photo: NordSpace · CC BY-SA 4.0