Photo: CP Hoffman from Washington, DC, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0For health, Annapolis County, Subdivision A sits behind 85% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 44% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Nova Scotia as a whole reaches 48%. Closer to home, a hospital is 8.5 km from the average resident of Annapolis County, Subdivision A, further than the usual 3.7 km. Annapolis County, Subdivision A grades D for health, #57 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,458 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Annapolis County, Subdivision A
A region that smokes more
Around Annapolis County, Subdivision A, 16% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 7.4 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (42% as answered). Health survey ↓
More chronic illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 27% report high blood pressure and 13% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
At 80.0 years, Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s region outlives the 77.8 that regions scoring 3.9 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
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.
Annapolis County, Subdivision A 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. Its place: #57 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,458 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
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 (27%) and diabetes (13%)
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
On weight the region is ordinary for Nova Scotia: 40% report obesity, the province 39%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
A region that outlives its deprivation by 2.2 years
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s dot is marked, above the line.
Ranked from least to most deprived on Statistics Canada’s index, regions see lives shorten along the way (correlation −0.83, 102 regions). Scored 3.9, Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s region would be expected to reach 77.8 years; it reaches 80.0. None of the 10 regions closest to it on the index lives longer; their middle figure is 78.3 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 Nova Scotia (47%)
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 reads like the rest of Nova Scotia: 47% against 48%, and 21% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Annapolis County, Subdivision A, a hospital is 8.5 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Annapolis County, Subdivision A, weighted by who lives there.
That is close to the 9.2 km of the typical town in Nova Scotia (the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km), as Annapolis County, Subdivision A goes. Few clinics are listed in Nova Scotia, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
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.
Life expectancy across the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Nova Scotia, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia, 2nd place goes to this one, between a low of 78.8 and a high of 81.4.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Annapolis County, Subdivision A 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.
Annapolis County, Subdivision A is 31st of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (6,590 to 6,860 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.3 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centre QC A | 6,627 | 0.8 km | 55% |
| 2 | Old Ottawa South ON A+ | 6,704 | 1.0 km | 56% |
| 3 | Hillsdale SK B+ | 6,792 | 1.2 km | 49% |
| 29 | Anniedale BC A | 6,715 | 7.7 km | 50% |
| 30 | Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel QC A− | 6,613 | 7.8 km | 61% |
| 31 | Annapolis County, Subdivision A NS D | 6,719 | 8.5 km | 44% |
| 32 | Industrial ON B− | 6,690 | 8.5 km | 53% |
| 33 | Rhineland MB B− | 6,819 | 11 km | 51% |
| 40 | Thunder Bay, Unorganized ON D | 6,831 | 37 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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 Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s own.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
Questions about health in Annapolis County, Subdivision A
How healthy is Annapolis County, Subdivision A?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 20%.
What is the life expectancy in Annapolis County, Subdivision A?
For the health region that includes Annapolis County, Subdivision A, women can expect 82.5 years and men 77.6 (2022/2024).
How far is Annapolis County, Subdivision A from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 15 km from the average resident of Annapolis County, Subdivision A, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
How is Annapolis County, Subdivision A’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Annapolis County, Subdivision A: 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).