Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Life expectancy around Cochrane is 77.3 years, 4.2 less than for the typical Canadian town
Adults here are less upbeat about their health than the province: 48% very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario. Measured from where Cochrane’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 2.2 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. Cochrane grades C for health, #800 of 866 in Ontario and #2,294 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Cochrane
Smoking runs high
Around Cochrane, 12% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
No pharmacy close by
The nearest pharmacy on OpenStreetMap is 42 km from the average home in Cochrane, so prescriptions mean a drive. Getting care ↓
More households under strain
With a situational-vulnerability score of 4.8 out of 5, Cochrane sits in the index’s harder-pressed areas. The wider area ↓
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.
Cochrane 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. Its place: #800 of 866 in Ontario and #2,294 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.
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 45% of adults against 30% for Ontario. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 29% to 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.
Getting to hospital from Cochrane: 2.2 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Cochrane, weighted by who lives there.
From Cochrane that is nearer than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town. The centre of population is 0.2 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 2.2 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.
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
This region is 31st longest-lived of 34 in Ontario, on a scale from 73.7 to 86.3 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Cochrane’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.
1.3 more years of life than regions as deprived
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Cochrane’s dot is marked, above the line.
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Cochrane’s region beats it: 77.3 years against the 76.0 the trend gives a score of 4.3. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 6 still live longer, with 78.5 years in the middle.
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.
Self-rated health trails Ontario: 48% very good or excellent, against 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 trails Ontario: 46% 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, Cochrane is 15th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,829 to 6,079 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowertown West ON A+ | 5,947 | 0.4 km | 56% |
| 2 | Central Frederick ON A | 5,895 | 0.8 km | 53% |
| 3 | Boyle Street AB B+ | 5,862 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 13 | Minto MB B+ | 5,830 | 2.0 km | 52% |
| 14 | University SK B+ | 5,888 | 2.1 km | 49% |
| 15 | Cochrane ON C | 5,948 | 2.2 km | 48% |
| 16 | River Bend ON A− | 5,930 | 2.2 km | 52% |
| 17 | Mayland Heights AB A+ | 5,937 | 2.3 km | 56% |
| 40 | Stettler County No. 6 AB C | 5,966 | 18 km | 52% |
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
- 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Cochrane shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
Questions about health in Cochrane
What is the life expectancy in Cochrane?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 80.1 for women, 74.6 for men around Cochrane (2022/2024).
How healthy is Cochrane?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 18%.
How is Cochrane’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Cochrane: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Cochrane from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Cochrane is 2.1 km from a clinic and 42 km from a pharmacy.
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).