Photo: Elviroyage · CC BY 4.0For health, Lunenburg sits behind 89% 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%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Lunenburg’s is long: 12 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Lunenburg a grade of D, #67 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,495 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Lunenburg
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Lunenburg than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 16% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.4 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 42% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Far from a hospital
For 2% of homes in Lunenburg the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 1.6 km. Getting care ↓
Living past what deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 3.9 on the deprivation index typically live 77.8 years; Lunenburg’s region, at 80.0, does better. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Lunenburg 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: #67 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #2,495 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.
27% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 13% diabetes
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
About as many adults report obesity as across Nova Scotia: 40%, 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.
A region that outlives its deprivation by 2.2 years
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Lunenburg’s region is above the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Lunenburg’s region, at 3.9, should live about 77.8 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 80.0. It tops the 10 regions closest to it on the index, which centre on 78.3 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Nova Scotia: 42% to 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 reads like the rest of Nova Scotia: 47% against 48%, and 21% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 12 km from the average home in Lunenburg
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Lunenburg’s own, not the region’s.
Nothing unusual for Lunenburg here: the typical town in Nova Scotia is 9.2 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 3.7 km. Homes are spread out: from the town’s centre of population the hospital is 1.6 km, while the average resident is 12 km away. 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
Of the 4 health regions in Nova Scotia, 2nd place goes to this one, between a low of 78.8 and a high of 81.4.
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 Lunenburg’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Lunenburg is 34th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 25,729 to 28,109 people, median 3.3 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parc-Kent QC A | 27,291 | 0.4 km | 54% |
| 2 | Loyola QC A | 26,607 | 0.6 km | 54% |
| 3 | René-Lévesque QC A | 28,061 | 0.6 km | 54% |
| 32 | Paradise NL C+ | 26,155 | 9.8 km | 54% |
| 33 | Foothills County AB A | 25,789 | 11 km | 56% |
| 34 | Lunenburg NS D | 26,862 | 12 km | 44% |
| 35 | Beaumont AB B | 26,305 | 12 km | 51% |
| 36 | Grande Prairie County No. 1 AB D | 25,883 | 14 km | 48% |
| 40 | Enfield NS D− | 26,960 | 26 km | 42% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Lunenburg
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunenburg | 12 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
| Bridgewater 2.6 km | 1.4 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
| Mahone Bay 11 km | 8.6 km | 44% | 80.0 | D |
| Lunenburg 15 km | 1.0 km | 44% | 80.0 | C− |
Only the hospital column is local here: Lunenburg and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Residents of Lunenburg live nearer a hospital, at 1.0 km against 12 km in Lunenburg.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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 Lunenburg’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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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 Lunenburg
How is Lunenburg’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 Lunenburg’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Lunenburg?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 20% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Lunenburg from a hospital?
A pharmacy is 8.8 km from the average resident of Lunenburg, as the crow flies; clinic lists here are too thin to measure.
What is the life expectancy in Lunenburg?
There is no figure for Lunenburg 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).