Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Health in Burlington beats 94% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 54% very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Burlington live 4.8 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Burlington grades A for health, #61 of 866 in Ontario and #374 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Burlington
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Burlington, a child can expect 3.4 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 22.4 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
With 11 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.8 km off, Burlington is well served for prescriptions. 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.
Burlington grades A 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 866 in Ontario and #374 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 34 regions in Ontario
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 3rd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Burlington 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.
From Burlington, a hospital is 4.8 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Burlington, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Burlington travel further than most of the province: the typical town in Ontario is 3.3 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
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.
1.2 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Burlington’s region is below the line.
Where residents average 1.6 on the index, regions tend to reach 86.1 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Burlington belongs to trails at 84.9. It outlives 8 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 83.5 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.
High blood pressure for 20% of adults in the region, diabetes for 7.6%
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
Self-reported obesity, 26%, trails Ontario (30%).
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.
54% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in Ontario (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
Mental health beats Ontario as well: 56% very good or excellent to 51%, with 24% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Burlington is 29th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (105,925 to 243,107 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Catharines ON C+ | 153,865 | 2.6 km | 49% |
| 2 | Niagara Falls ON C+ | 113,983 | 2.7 km | 49% |
| 3 | Saanich BC A+ | 126,011 | 2.7 km | 55% |
| 27 | Nanaimo BC B− | 111,845 | 4.2 km | 47% |
| 28 | Cape Breton NS C− | 106,752 | 4.8 km | 49% |
| 29 | Burlington ON A | 197,737 | 4.8 km | 54% |
| 30 | Bowmanville ON B | 114,180 | 4.9 km | 50% |
| 31 | Whitby ON B | 162,413 | 5.1 km | 50% |
| 40 | Terrebonne QC B+ | 126,872 | 9.7 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Burlington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | 4.8 km | 54% | 84.9 | A |
| Waterdown 7.9 km | 7.4 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
| North End East 11 km | 0.4 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Industrial Sector A and Keith 11 km | 1.5 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
| Beasley 12 km | 0.4 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Central 12 km | 0.9 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
| Parkview West 12 km | 4.0 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
Waterdown falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 81.2 against 84.9 here. North End East is the closest to care, 0.4 km to Burlington’s 4.8 km.
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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Burlington itself is the trip to care.
- 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 Burlington
What is the life expectancy in Burlington?
Women in Burlington’s region live to 86.5 on average and men to 83.2, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Burlington’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Burlington’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Burlington?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 15%.
How far is Burlington from a hospital?
For everyday care, Burlington’s residents are 0.8 km from a pharmacy and 2.0 km from a clinic on average.
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).