Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Health in Inverness trails 86% of Canadian towns
Self-rated health is ordinary for Nova Scotia: 49% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 48%. Measured from where Inverness’ residents live, the nearest hospital is 16 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Inverness grades D for health, #61 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,470 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Inverness
A region where lives run shorter
Life expectancy in the region around Inverness runs 2.7 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.1 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A long way to hospital
For 7% of homes in Inverness the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 14 km. Getting care ↓
More chronic illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 30% report high blood pressure and 11% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Inverness than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 12% of adults smoke every day. 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.
Inverness 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: #61 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,470 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.
Life expectancy across the 4 health 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
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Inverness’ bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
From Inverness, a hospital is 16 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Inverness, weighted by who lives there.
From Inverness 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.
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.
The region lives 1.7 years longer than its deprivation predicts
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Inverness’ 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 4.0 on the index, the line expects 77.1 years; Inverness’ region reaches 78.8. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (6 of 10, median 77.8 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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Nova Scotia: 48% and 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 beats Nova Scotia as well: 51% very good or excellent to 48%, with 24% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Inverness is 33rd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,063 to 5,215 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Alexander MB B+ | 5,161 | 0.5 km | 52% |
| 2 | Heritage SK B+ | 5,172 | 0.5 km | 49% |
| 3 | Didsbury AB A+ | 5,185 | 1.0 km | 56% |
| 31 | Centre Hastings ON D | 5,170 | 13 km | 45% |
| 32 | Cobble Hill BC C+ | 5,074 | 14 km | 47% |
| 33 | Inverness NS D | 5,138 | 16 km | 49% |
| 34 | Morin-Heights QC A | 5,086 | 17 km | 60% |
| 35 | Kneehill County AB C | 5,129 | 17 km | 52% |
| 40 | Big Lakes County AB D− | 5,106 | 53 km | 48% |
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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. Only the distances on this page belong to Inverness 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.
Questions about health in Inverness
How is Inverness’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Inverness’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Inverness?
For the health region that includes Inverness, women can expect 80.9 years and men 76.6 (2022/2024).
How far is Inverness from a hospital?
For everyday care, Inverness’ residents are 25 km from a pharmacy on average.
How healthy is Inverness?
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).