Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0On health, Guysborough falls short of 91% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 49% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Nova Scotia (48%). For Guysborough itself, the measure is access: 22 km to the nearest hospital on average, with 44% of homes beyond 30 km. The Health grade for Guysborough is D, #75 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,517 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Guysborough
Life expectancy below the norm
Guysborough’s region sits 2.7 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 19.1 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Far from a hospital
Residents of Guysborough live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (31 km from its centre of population), and 44% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
More chronic illness
High blood pressure (30%) and diabetes (11%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
More smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Guysborough is well above the typical town’s; 12% of adults are daily smokers. 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.
Guysborough 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: #75 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,517 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
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Guysborough’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.
Getting to hospital from Guysborough: 22 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Guysborough, weighted by who lives there.
Guysborough 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.
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
More adults report obesity than across Nova Scotia: 45%, 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.
Deprivation would predict shorter lives: 1.7 years more here
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Guysborough’s dot is marked, above the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Guysborough’s region, at 4.0, should live about 77.1 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 78.8. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and it still beats 6, with 77.8 years in the middle.
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.
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
Mental health looks better than in the province too: 51% rate it very good or excellent, against 48% in Nova Scotia, and 24% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Guysborough is 37th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,627 to 4,816 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North End East ON B+ | 4,816 | 0.4 km | 53% |
| 2 | Central McDougall AB B+ | 4,802 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 3 | Barrhead AB C− | 4,768 | 0.7 km | 48% |
| 35 | Electoral Area H, Nanaimo BC C+ | 4,815 | 21 km | 47% |
| 36 | Grand Valley ON B− | 4,759 | 21 km | 51% |
| 37 | Guysborough NS D | 4,721 | 22 km | 49% |
| 38 | Marmora ON D | 4,761 | 24 km | 45% |
| 39 | Dundas NB C | 4,733 | 27 km | 43% |
| 40 | Hampton NB D | 4,754 | 32 km | 43% |
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
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Guysborough shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Guysborough
How far is Guysborough from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Guysborough is 26 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
What is the life expectancy in Guysborough?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Guysborough’s health region only: 80.9 years for women and 76.6 for men (2022/2024).
How is Guysborough’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Guysborough’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Guysborough?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 21%.
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).