Photo: Brendanriley · CC BY-SA 3.0More long-term illness in Antigonish’s health region: 21% on the three conditions, the typical Canadian town 17%
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 49%; Nova Scotia as a whole is at 48%. For Antigonish itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.7 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Health gives Antigonish a grade of C, #37 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,307 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Antigonish
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Antigonish runs 2.7 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.1 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A region that smokes more
The age-standardised smoking rate around Antigonish is well above the typical town’s; 12% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
At 78.8 years, Antigonish’s region outlives the 77.1 that regions scoring 4.0 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Antigonish can reach 7.4 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.8 km off. Getting care ↓
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.
Antigonish 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. Its place: #37 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,307 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 4 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
Last of the 4 regions in Nova Scotia: the highest figure is 81.4, 2.6 years above the lowest.
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; Antigonish’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.
High blood pressure for 30% of adults in the region, diabetes for 11%
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 45% of adults against 39% for Nova Scotia.
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 1.7 years
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Antigonish’s dot is marked, above the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 4.0, the expected figure is 77.1 years, and Antigonish’s region does better with 78.8. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 6 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 77.8 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.
The nearest hospital is 1.7 km from the average home in Antigonish
Straight-line distances from each part of Antigonish, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 9.2 km for the typical town in Nova Scotia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Antigonish is on the near side. The clinic list is thin in Nova Scotia: the facilities database holds few clinics there, so the clinic distance overstates the trip.
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.
48% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Nova Scotia (47%)
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
On mental health the region is ahead of Nova Scotia, 51% very good or excellent to 48%; 24% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Antigonish is 7th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,100 to 5,249 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Alexander MB B+ | 5,161 | 0.5 km | 52% |
| 2 | Heritage SK B+ | 5,172 | 0.5 km | 49% |
| 3 | Didsbury AB A+ | 5,185 | 1.0 km | 56% |
| 5 | Queen Alexandra AB B+ | 5,106 | 1.3 km | 51% |
| 6 | Earl Grey MB B+ | 5,152 | 1.4 km | 52% |
| 7 | Antigonish NS C | 5,175 | 1.7 km | 49% |
| 8 | Montréal-Ouest QC A | 5,197 | 1.7 km | 54% |
| 9 | Bearspaw AB B+ | 5,192 | 1.7 km | 51% |
| 40 | Big Lakes County AB D− | 5,106 | 53 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Antigonish
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigonish | 1.7 km | 49% | 78.8 | C |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision A 3.7 km | 8.2 km | 49% | 78.8 | C− |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision B 18 km | 18 km | 49% | 78.8 | D |
Every place around Antigonish shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Residents of Antigonish County, Subdivision B live further from a hospital, at 18 km against 1.7 km in Antigonish.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Antigonish itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Antigonish
How is Antigonish’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Antigonish has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Antigonish?
For the health region that includes Antigonish, women can expect 80.9 years and men 76.6 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Antigonish?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 21%.
How far is Antigonish from a hospital?
Residents of Antigonish have a pharmacy 0.8 km away on average, in a straight line.
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).