Van Kirk’s region outlives the typical Canadian town by 3.8 years: life expectancy 85.3
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Ontario, 49% against 51%. Measured from where Van Kirk’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 6.4 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Van Kirk grades B+ for health, #458 of 866 in Ontario and #1,167 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Van Kirk
Ahead of regions as deprived
Set against regions as deprived (2.5), Van Kirk’s region gains years: 85.3 where the trend says 82.9. For its deprivation ↓
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around Van Kirk is well below the typical town’s; 5.9% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Van Kirk can reach 15 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.9 km off. Getting care ↓
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.
Van Kirk 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: #458 of 866 in Ontario and #1,167 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.
Deprivation would predict shorter lives: 2.4 years more here
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Van Kirk’s dot is marked, above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 2.5 on the index, the line expects 82.9 years; Van Kirk’s region reaches 85.3. Against the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, none lives longer; the middle of the group is 82.7 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (21%) and diabetes (12%)
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
Fewer adults report obesity than across Ontario: 27%, the province 30%. At 11%, heavy drinking trails the provincial 17%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
The nearest hospital is 6.4 km from the average home in Van Kirk
Straight-line distances from each part of Van Kirk, weighted by who lives there.
From Van Kirk that is further than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
How the 34 health regions in Ontario compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Ontario, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Among the 34 regions in Ontario, from 73.7 to 86.3 years, this one is 2nd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Van Kirk’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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Ontario: 51% and 51%
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
More adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across Ontario (55% against 51%), while 26% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Van Kirk is 26th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (9,886 to 10,175 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lac-des-Fées QC B+ | 10,075 | 0.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | Vincent ON B | 10,011 | 1.1 km | 53% |
| 3 | Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills ON A | 9,909 | 1.2 km | 50% |
| 24 | Springbank Hill AB A | 9,913 | 4.9 km | 56% |
| 25 | Lac-Saint-Charles QC A+ | 9,985 | 5.5 km | 62% |
| 26 | Van Kirk ON B+ | 10,014 | 6.4 km | 49% |
| 27 | Palmerston ON B | 10,029 | 6.6 km | 51% |
| 28 | Mount Pleasant North ON B+ | 10,103 | 6.8 km | 49% |
| 40 | Saint-Félicien QC A− | 10,143 | 23 km | 66% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Van Kirk
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Kirk | 6.4 km | 49% | 85.3 | B+ |
| Fletchers Meadow North 1.3 km | 6.1 km | 49% | 85.3 | A− |
| Snelgrove 1.8 km | 6.4 km | 49% | 85.3 | B+ |
| Fletchers Meadow South 2.1 km | 4.9 km | 49% | 85.3 | A− |
| Heart Lake North 2.3 km | 5.0 km | 49% | 85.3 | A− |
| Mount Pleasant North 2.5 km | 6.8 km | 49% | 85.3 | B+ |
| Alloa 2.6 km | 7.6 km | 49% | 85.3 | B+ |
Van Kirk and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Van Kirk alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Van Kirk
What is the life expectancy in Van Kirk?
There is no figure for Van Kirk alone; its health region’s is 87.2 for women and 83.3 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Van Kirk’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Van Kirk has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Van Kirk?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 19%.
How far is Van Kirk from a hospital?
A clinic is 3.8 km from the average resident of Van Kirk and a pharmacy 0.9 km, as the crow flies.
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).