Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainOn health, Cumberland County, Subdivision A falls short of 92% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 42% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Nova Scotia as a whole reaches 48%. What sets Cumberland County, Subdivision A apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 13 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Cumberland County, Subdivision A grades D for health, #80 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,535 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Cumberland County, Subdivision A
More smokers
Smoking is commoner around Cumberland County, Subdivision A than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 14% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 9.6 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (41% as answered). Health survey ↓
A region where lives run shorter
Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s region sits 2.2 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 19.2 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More chronic illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 29% report high blood pressure and 13% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Cumberland 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: #80 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,535 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.
29% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 13% diabetes
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
At 43%, self-reported obesity is above Nova Scotia’s 39%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
41% 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
Fewer adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across Nova Scotia (44% against 48%), while 24% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
How the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia compare on life expectancy
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
Life expectancy in Nova Scotia runs from 78.8 to 81.4; this region sits 3rd of the 4.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Cumberland County, Subdivision A’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.
1.4 more years of life than regions as deprived
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s region is above the line.
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s region beats it: 79.3 years against the 77.9 the trend gives a score of 3.8. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, shorter lives win out: 7 of the 10, around a median of 78.5 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.
From Cumberland County, Subdivision A, a hospital is 13 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Cumberland County, Subdivision A, weighted by who lives there.
Cumberland County, Subdivision A is further out than the provincial norm of 9.2 km in Nova Scotia, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. 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.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Cumberland County, Subdivision A comes 29th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (3,346 to 3,458 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynnwood AB B+ | 3,452 | 0.4 km | 51% |
| 2 | Virginia Park AB B+ | 3,431 | 1.0 km | 51% |
| 3 | Havre-Saint-Pierre QC B+ | 3,389 | 1.2 km | 61% |
| 27 | Portneuf QC A+ | 3,410 | 12 km | 62% |
| 28 | Thurso QC B | 3,439 | 13 km | 55% |
| 29 | Cumberland County, Subdivision A NS D | 3,401 | 13 km | 42% |
| 30 | Saint-Côme--Linière QC A− | 3,435 | 14 km | 59% |
| 31 | Gibbons AB B− | 3,352 | 15 km | 51% |
| 40 | Lewisporte NL D | 3,405 | 45 km | 54% |
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.
- 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. 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.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Cumberland County, Subdivision A shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Cumberland County, Subdivision A
How healthy is Cumberland County, Subdivision A?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 21%.
How is Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Cumberland County, Subdivision A’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Cumberland County, Subdivision A?
There is no figure for Cumberland County, Subdivision A alone; its health region’s is 81.5 for women and 77.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Cumberland County, Subdivision A from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Cumberland County, Subdivision A is 31 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
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).