Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainAround Cornwall, 49% of adults call their health very good or excellent
Statistics Canada puts the region’s life expectancy at 81.0, women 83.0 and men 78.9 (2022/2024). For Cornwall itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.5 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Health gives Cornwall a grade of B−, #695 of 866 in Ontario and #2,042 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Cornwall
A region that smokes more
The age-standardised smoking rate around Cornwall is well above the typical town’s; 13% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Cornwall; from its centre of population the trip is 0.1 km. Getting care ↓
Harder circumstances
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Cornwall at 4.0 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
The average resident of Cornwall can reach 12 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.
Cornwall 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: #695 of 866 in Ontario and #2,042 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 11%
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 39%, self-reported obesity is above Ontario’s 30%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (22% against 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 Cornwall: 1.5 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Cornwall, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 3.3 km for the typical town in Ontario and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Cornwall is on the near side.
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 34 health 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
This region is 18th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Cornwall 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.
As long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly longer
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Cornwall’s region’s dot is close to the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 3.2, the expected figure is 80.3 years, and Cornwall’s region matches it closely with 81.0. The 10 regions closest to it on the index split evenly around it, 5 above and 5 below; their median is 81.0 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.
48% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer 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
The region’s 53% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of Ontario’s 51%, with 27% reporting 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, Cornwall is 3rd nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (45,720 to 63,957 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sault-Saint-Louis QC A | 47,270 | 1.3 km | 54% |
| 2 | Saint-Eustache QC A+ | 47,562 | 1.4 km | 60% |
| 3 | Cornwall ON B− | 54,346 | 1.5 km | 49% |
| 4 | St. Thomas ON B− | 49,388 | 1.7 km | 49% |
| 5 | Whalley BC A | 52,642 | 1.8 km | 50% |
| 40 | Lakeshore ON B− | 45,954 | 20 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Cornwall
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | 1.5 km | 49% | 81.0 | B− |
| Akwesasne (Part) 59 2.6 km | 14 km | 49% | 81.0 | C |
| Akwesasne 14 km | 12 km | 55% | 82.5 | A− |
| South Glengarry 15 km | 13 km | 49% | 81.0 | C+ |
| Long Sault 16 km | 15 km | 49% | 81.0 | C |
Across a regional line, Akwesasne has its own figures: life expectancy 82.5, against 81.0 here. Residents of Long Sault live further from a hospital, at 15 km against 1.5 km in Cornwall.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Cornwall shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Cornwall
How is Cornwall’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Cornwall’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Cornwall?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 19%.
What is the life expectancy in Cornwall?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 83.0 for women, 78.9 for men around Cornwall (2022/2024).
How far is Cornwall from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Cornwall live: 1.3 km to a clinic, 0.9 km to 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).