Photo: Ayadm · CC BY-SA 3.0For health, Upper Island Cove sits behind 93% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 44% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Newfoundland and Labrador’s 52%. Measured from where Upper Island Cove’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 8.5 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Health gives Upper Island Cove a grade of D.
What stands out about health in Upper Island Cove
More chronic illness
High blood pressure (36%) and diabetes (15%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
A region where lives run shorter
Upper Island Cove’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 ↓
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Upper Island Cove is well above the typical town’s; 13% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Less upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 7.4 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 42%. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Upper Island Cove 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (36%) and diabetes (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
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.
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
Among the 5 regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, from 77.1 to 80.2 years, this one is 3rd.
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 Upper Island Cove’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health trails Newfoundland and Labrador: 42% very good or excellent, against 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
Asked about their mental health, 56% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Newfoundland and Labrador it was 54%, and 15% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which edges past the trend
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Upper Island Cove’s region comes out on the trend.
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 Upper Island Cove’s region is close, at 78.6. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, shorter lives win out: 6 of the 10, around a median of 78.2 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.
From Upper Island Cove, a hospital is 8.5 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Upper Island Cove’s own, not the region’s.
Nothing unusual for Upper Island Cove here: the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador is 8.5 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 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.
Health in the places around Upper Island Cove
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Island Cove | 8.5 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Harbour Grace 4.1 km | 4.9 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Spaniard's Bay 6.3 km | 12 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Bay Roberts 8.0 km | 16 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Carbonear 9.6 km | 1.4 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Victoria 13 km | 5.1 km | 44% | 78.6 | D |
| Clarke's Beach 16 km | 22 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Upper Island Cove’s; read across for the hospital trip. Residents of Clarke's Beach live further from a hospital, at 22 km against 8.5 km in Upper Island Cove.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- 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. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
- 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 Upper Island Cove’s own.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Upper Island Cove
How healthy is Upper Island Cove?
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 Upper Island Cove?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Upper Island Cove’s health region only: 80.8 years for women and 76.4 for men (2022/2024).
How is Upper Island Cove’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Upper Island Cove’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Upper Island Cove from a hospital?
For everyday care, Upper Island Cove’s residents are 8.8 km from a pharmacy and 35 km from a clinic on average.
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).