Photo: Dan Fleet at English Wikipedia · Public domainLives run shorter around Wabush: 77.1 years, 4.4 below the typical Canadian town’s region
In the health survey, 60% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than Newfoundland and Labrador’s 52%. What sets Wabush apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 6.2 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Wabush a grade of C.
What stands out about health in Wabush
Smoking runs high
Around Wabush, 17% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 26% report high blood pressure and 14% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
No pharmacy close by
Picking up a prescription in Wabush takes a trip of 19 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. Getting care ↓
Upbeat about their health
Even once age is allowed for, 8.7 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (61% as answered). Health survey ↓
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.
Wabush 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.
26% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 14% 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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 52% of adults against 42% for Newfoundland and Labrador. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 31% to 23%.
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.
More people rate their health highly here than in Newfoundland and Labrador: 61% 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
Mental health beats Newfoundland and Labrador as well: 59% very good or excellent to 54%, with 12% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 6.2 km from the average home in Wabush
Straight-line distances from each part of Wabush, weighted by who lives there.
That is close to the 8.5 km of the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador (the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km), as Wabush goes.
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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.2 years of life
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Wabush’s region’s dot is under the line.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 3.7 would suggest 78.3 years, but Wabush’s region stops at 77.1. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it trails the majority, 8 of 10; their median is 78.5 years. Judged by income, around $116,000 a household, the region would look well placed, but income tracks life expectancy only weakly between regions (0.14), and this one lives less long than most.
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.
Life expectancy across the 5 health regions in Newfoundland and Labrador
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
This is the shortest-lived of the 5 regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 3.1 years behind the first at 80.2.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Wabush’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health in the places around Wabush
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabush | 6.2 km | 60% | 77.1 | C |
| Labrador City 5.7 km | 1.5 km | 60% | 77.1 | C+ |
| Fermont 19 km | 0.3 km | 61% | 79.4 | B+ |
Across a regional line, Fermont has its own figures: life expectancy 79.4, against 77.1 here. Fermont is the closest to care, 0.3 km to Wabush’s 6.2 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Wabush alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
Questions about health in Wabush
What is the life expectancy in Wabush?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Wabush’s health region only: 79.2 years for women and 74.6 for men (2022/2024).
How is Wabush’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Wabush has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Wabush?
Taken together the region leans less healthy than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 21%.
How far is Wabush from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Wabush live: 7.2 km to a clinic, 19 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).