Photo: Paulo O · Public domainAround Westphal, 51% of adults call their health very good or excellent
For 2022/2024, the region’s figure is 81.4 years at birth, 83.4 for women and 79.3 for men. What sets Westphal apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 6.7 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Westphal is B, #17 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,635 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
Westphal grades B 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: #17 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,635 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 0.8 years behind the trend
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Westphal’s lies below the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Westphal’s region, at 2.6, should live about 82.2 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 81.4. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, longer lives win out: 5 of the 10, around a median of 81.7 years. On income alone, around $81,000 a household, this region would be expected to fare worse than most, yet it lives longer; between regions the link is weak (0.14).
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (21%) and diabetes (7.5%)
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
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 35% 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 Westphal: 6.7 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Westphal’s own, not the region’s.
Nothing unusual for Westphal here: the typical town in Nova Scotia is 9.2 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 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.
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
No region of the 4 in Nova Scotia lives longer than this one; the shortest-lived reaches 78.8, a gap of 2.6 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Westphal’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.
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more 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
Mental health is close to the province’s: 48% 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.
Westphal is 27th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,144 to 4,261 people, median 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 2 | La Pocatière QC A | 4,206 | 0.9 km | 60% |
| 3 | Sunalta AB A+ | 4,151 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 25 | Merivale Gardens - Grenfell Glen - Pineglen - Country Place ON A | 4,172 | 6.5 km | 56% |
| 26 | Crabtree QC A− | 4,237 | 6.6 km | 56% |
| 27 | Westphal NS B | 4,201 | 6.7 km | 51% |
| 28 | Fraipont MB B | 4,221 | 6.9 km | 52% |
| 29 | Barry's Bay ON C+ | 4,151 | 7.0 km | 50% |
| 40 | Napierville QC A− | 4,187 | 19 km | 55% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Westphal
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westphal | 6.7 km | 51% | 81.4 | B |
| Cole Harbour 3.4 km | 5.5 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Woodlawn 3.6 km | 4.1 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Portland Estates 4.5 km | 2.6 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| East Preston 4.6 km | 10 km | 51% | 81.4 | B |
| Manor Park 5.8 km | 1.8 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Lawrencetown 6.0 km | 12 km | 51% | 81.4 | B |
One health region covers Westphal and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same. Lawrencetown is the furthest from care, 12 km to Westphal’s 6.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Westphal alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
Questions about health in Westphal
How far is Westphal from a hospital?
For everyday care, Westphal’s residents are 2.4 km from a pharmacy on average.
How is Westphal’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Westphal: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Westphal?
The region does worse than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Chronic conditions there average 18% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Westphal?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Westphal’s health region only: 83.4 years for women and 79.3 for men (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).