Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY-SA 3.0Trenton scores below 85% of Canadian towns for health
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 42%, behind the 48% for Nova Scotia. Measured from where Trenton’s residents live, a hospital is 4.6 km away, near the 3.7 km most towns see. The Health grade for Trenton is C−.
What stands out about health in Trenton
Smoking runs high
Around Trenton, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 9.6 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 41%. Health survey ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Born around Trenton, a child can expect 2.2 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 19.2 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 29% report high blood pressure and 13% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Trenton grades C− 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.
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.
29% 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
At 43%, self-reported obesity is above 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.
41% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in 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
Fewer adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across Nova Scotia (44% against 48%), while 24% 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
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
Among the 4 regions in Nova Scotia, from 78.8 to 81.4 years, this one is 3rd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Trenton itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 1.4 years ahead of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Trenton’s region is above the line.
Measured against 102 regions, more deprivation means shorter lives, and steadily so (correlation −0.83). Trenton’s region, at 3.8, outlives the trend’s 77.9 years with 79.3. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (7 of 10, median 78.5 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.
From Trenton, a hospital is 4.6 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Trenton, weighted by who lives there.
From Trenton that is nearer than the 9.2 km of the typical town in Nova Scotia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town. The clinic list is thin in Nova Scotia: the facilities database holds few clinics there, so the clinic distance overstates the trip.
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.
Health in the places around Trenton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | 4.6 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| New Glasgow 2.7 km | 2.0 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| Stellarton 6.4 km | 2.5 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C 6.5 km | 10 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
| Westville 9.1 km | 5.9 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
| Pictou 9.3 km | 1.5 km | 42% | 79.3 | C− |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B 13 km | 9.6 km | 42% | 79.3 | D |
The neighbours all sit in Trenton’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Residents of Pictou County, Subdivision C live further from a hospital, at 10 km against 4.6 km in Trenton.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Trenton itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Trenton
How healthy is Trenton?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 21% of adults.
How is Trenton’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Trenton’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Trenton?
There is no figure for Trenton alone; its health region’s is 81.5 for women and 77.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Trenton from a hospital?
Residents of Trenton have a pharmacy 4.6 km away on average, in a straight line.
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).