Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainChester scores below 96% of Canadian towns for health
In the health survey, 44% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Nova Scotia’s 48%. What sets Chester apart within its region is distance: 25 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 36% of residents. Chester grades D− for health, #84 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,560 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Chester
More smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Chester is well above the typical town’s; 16% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
For 36% of homes in Chester the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 24 km. Getting care ↓
Fewer people feeling well
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 ↓
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
At 80.0 years, Chester’s region outlives the 77.8 that regions scoring 3.9 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Chester 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: #84 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,560 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.
High blood pressure for 27% of adults in the region, diabetes for 13%
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 is close to the province’s level, 40% 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.
Getting to hospital from Chester: 25 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Chester’s own, not the region’s.
Chester is further out than the provincial norm of 9.2 km in Nova Scotia, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. 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.
2.2 years above the line for regions this deprived
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Chester’s region, above the line, stands for every town in it.
Use the deprivation index alone and Chester’s region, at 3.9, should live about 77.8 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 80.0. No region among the 10 scored most like it does better; they centre on 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%)
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 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 4 regions in Nova Scotia
Regional life expectancy in Nova Scotia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Ranked 2nd of 4 in Nova Scotia: the regions span 78.8 to 81.4 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Chester’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Among 40 towns its size, Chester is 39th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 11,491 to 12,008 people, median 6.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Toronto ON A | 11,502 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 2 | Weyburn SK C− | 11,871 | 0.9 km | 49% |
| 3 | North Riverdale ON A | 11,491 | 0.9 km | 50% |
| 37 | Clearwater County AB C− | 11,856 | 20 km | 52% |
| 38 | Morrisburg ON C | 11,943 | 22 km | 49% |
| 39 | Chester NS D− | 11,740 | 25 km | 44% |
| 40 | Mont-Tremblant QC A− | 11,879 | 25 km | 60% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Chester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 25 km | 44% | 80.0 | D− |
| Mahone Bay 18 km | 8.6 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
Around Chester the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital. Residents of Mahone Bay live nearer a hospital, at 8.6 km against 25 km in Chester.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Chester itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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.
Questions about health in Chester
How far is Chester from a hospital?
Residents of Chester have a pharmacy 14 km away on average, in a straight line.
How healthy is Chester?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 20% of adults.
How is Chester’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Chester 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 Chester?
There is no figure for Chester alone; its health region’s is 82.5 for women and 77.6 for men in 2022/2024.
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).