Photo: Miguel Tremblay · CC0Health in Whitbourne trails almost every Canadian town
Across the region, 44% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole reaches 52%. Measured from where Whitbourne’s residents live, a hospital is 38 km away on average and 100% of them are over 30 km out. The Health grade for Whitbourne is D−.
What stands out about health in Whitbourne
A heavier load of illness
High blood pressure (36%) and diabetes (15%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
For 100% of homes in Whitbourne the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 39 km. Getting care ↓
A region where lives run shorter
Life expectancy in the region around Whitbourne 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 ↓
Smoking runs high
Around Whitbourne, 13% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Whitbourne 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%)
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.
The nearest hospital is 38 km from the average home in Whitbourne
Straight-line distances from each part of Whitbourne, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Whitbourne travel further 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.
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
Ranked 3rd of 5 in Newfoundland and Labrador: the regions span 77.1 to 80.2 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Whitbourne itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Barely ahead of regions as deprived
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Whitbourne’s, follows the trend.
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Whitbourne belongs to lives about as long as its score of 3.7 predicts: 78.6 years, the trend 78.3. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 6 of 10; their median is 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.
42% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in Newfoundland and Labrador (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.
Health in the places around Whitbourne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitbourne | 38 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision Y 9.2 km | 35 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision M 14 km | 29 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
| Clarke's Beach 19 km | 22 km | 44% | 78.6 | D− |
One health region covers Whitbourne and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Whitbourne alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Whitbourne
How far is Whitbourne from a hospital?
For everyday care, Whitbourne’s residents are 15 km from a pharmacy and 1.3 km from a clinic on average.
How healthy is Whitbourne?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 24% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Whitbourne?
There is no figure for Whitbourne alone; its health region’s is 80.8 for women and 76.4 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Whitbourne’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Whitbourne: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
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).