Photo: Reynoborn64 · Public domainFor health, Digby sits behind 93% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 44% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Nova Scotia’s 48%. Closer to home, a hospital is 18 km from the average resident of Digby, further than the usual 3.7 km. Digby grades D for health, #81 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,541 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Digby
A region that smokes more
Smoking is commoner around Digby than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 16% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Residents of Digby live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (14 km from its centre of population), and 13% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Self-rated health runs low
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 ↓
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
At 80.0 years, Digby’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.
Digby 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: #81 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,541 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
At 40%, self-reported obesity is near 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.
From Digby, a hospital is 18 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Digby’s own, not the region’s.
From Digby that is further than the 9.2 km of the typical town in Nova Scotia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town. 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.
The region lives 2.2 years longer than its deprivation predicts
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Digby’s region is above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 3.9 on the index, the line expects 77.8 years; Digby’s region reaches 80.0. It outlives all 10 of its nearest neighbours on the index, whose median is 78.3.
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
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across Nova Scotia (47% against 48%), while 21% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Life expectancy across the 4 health 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
The region comes 2nd of 4 in Nova Scotia, where life expectancy runs from 78.8 to 81.4 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Digby’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Digby is 38th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 7,364 to 7,694 people, median 3.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landsdale ON B+ | 7,681 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | University ON A | 7,595 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Ermineskin AB B+ | 7,483 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 36 | Saint-Félix-de-Valois QC B+ | 7,670 | 14 km | 56% |
| 37 | Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon QC B+ | 7,551 | 16 km | 59% |
| 38 | Digby NS D | 7,528 | 18 km | 44% |
| 39 | Westlock County AB D | 7,556 | 20 km | 48% |
| 40 | Saint-Calixte QC B | 7,627 | 21 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Digby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digby | 18 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
| Digby 14 km | 0.6 km | 44% | 80.0 | C |
The neighbours all sit in Digby’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Residents of Digby live nearer a hospital, at 0.6 km against 18 km in Digby.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Digby’s own.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
Questions about health in Digby
How is Digby’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Digby’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Digby?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 20% of adults.
How far is Digby from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 12 km from the average resident of Digby, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
What is the life expectancy in Digby?
There is no figure for Digby 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).