Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY 4.0The region around Wabana carries more chronic illness than the typical Canadian town: 24% to 17%
Across the region, 44% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole reaches 52%. What sets Wabana apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 0.9 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Wabana is C−.
What stands out about health in Wabana
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Wabana runs 2.9 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 18.9 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More smokers
Around Wabana, 13% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs low
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 ↓
Harder circumstances
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Wabana at 4.8 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. 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.
Wabana 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.
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.
How the 5 health regions in Newfoundland and Labrador compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
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
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Wabana’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
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
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across Newfoundland and Labrador: 48%, 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.
Self-rated health trails Newfoundland and Labrador: 42% very good or excellent, against 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health is close to the province’s: 56% rate it very good or excellent, against 54% in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 15% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Barely ahead of regions as deprived
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Wabana’s dot is marked, close to the line.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 3.7 about 78.3 years; Wabana’s region’s 78.6 is within a year of it. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (6 of 10, median 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.
Getting to hospital from Wabana: 0.9 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Wabana, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Wabana are closer than most of the province: the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador is 8.5 km from a hospital, 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 Wabana
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabana | 0.9 km | 44% | 78.6 | C− |
| Portugal Cove-St. Philip's 8.7 km | 8.6 km | 54% | 80.2 | B− |
| Paradise 13 km | 9.8 km | 54% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Torbay 15 km | 9.3 km | 54% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Conception Bay South 16 km | 17 km | 54% | 80.2 | C+ |
| Mount Pearl 17 km | 5.3 km | 54% | 80.2 | B− |
| St. John's 18 km | 3.0 km | 54% | 80.2 | B− |
Across a regional line, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's has its own figures: life expectancy 80.2, against 78.6 here. Conception Bay South is the furthest from care, 17 km to Wabana’s 0.9 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Wabana shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
Questions about health in Wabana
How healthy is Wabana?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 24%.
What is the life expectancy in Wabana?
For the health region that includes Wabana, women can expect 80.8 years and men 76.4 (2022/2024).
How is Wabana’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Wabana: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Wabana from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Wabana live: 50 km to a clinic, 14 km to a pharmacy.
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).