Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Dorchester, 52% of adults call their health very good or excellent
The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 81.9, with women at 84.2 and men at 79.6. What sets Dorchester apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 13 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Dorchester grades B for health, #538 of 866 in Ontario and #1,652 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Dorchester
A long way to hospital
Residents of Dorchester live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (14 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. 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.
Dorchester 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: #538 of 866 in Ontario and #1,652 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.
From Dorchester, a hospital is 13 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Dorchester, weighted by who lives there.
Dorchester is further out than the provincial norm of 3.3 km in Ontario, and than the typical Canadian town at 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.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which edges past the trend
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Dorchester’s lies near the line.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Dorchester’s region fits it, 81.9 years at 2.7 against the line’s 81.9. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 7 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 81.3 years. Modest pay, about $80,000 a household, and long lives sit side by side here: across regions, income and life expectancy hardly move together (0.14).
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.
23% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 7.4% 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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 33% of adults against 30% for Ontario. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 24% 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.
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
Life expectancy in Ontario runs from 73.7 to 86.3; this region sits 9th of the 34.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Dorchester’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.
Self-rated health much as in Ontario: 53% to 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
For 22% of adults most days are quite a bit stressful, and 53% rate their mental health very good or excellent, near Ontario’s 51%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Dorchester is 38th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (15,181 to 15,792 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trinity-Bellwoods ON A | 15,691 | 0.5 km | 50% |
| 2 | Little Portugal ON A | 15,669 | 0.8 km | 50% |
| 3 | Loretteville QC A+ | 15,653 | 1.0 km | 62% |
| 36 | Beauharnois QC A | 15,285 | 10 km | 55% |
| 37 | Severn ON B | 15,716 | 13 km | 54% |
| 38 | Dorchester ON B | 15,475 | 13 km | 52% |
| 39 | Pincourt QC A− | 15,220 | 14 km | 55% |
| 40 | Sainte-Adèle QC A | 15,216 | 16 km | 60% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Dorchester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorchester | 13 km | 52% | 81.9 | B |
| Argyle 8.5 km | 5.2 km | 52% | 81.9 | B+ |
| Jackson 11 km | 4.4 km | 52% | 81.9 | B+ |
| Hamilton Road 11 km | 3.2 km | 52% | 81.9 | A− |
| Huron Heights 12 km | 4.0 km | 52% | 81.9 | B+ |
| East London 12 km | 1.5 km | 52% | 81.9 | A− |
| Glen Cairn 13 km | 2.0 km | 52% | 81.9 | A− |
Every place around Dorchester shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. East London is the closest to care, 1.5 km to Dorchester’s 13 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Dorchester’s own.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- 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. 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.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
Questions about health in Dorchester
How is Dorchester’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Dorchester: 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 Dorchester from a hospital?
A clinic is 12 km from the average resident of Dorchester and a pharmacy 4.6 km, as the crow flies.
What is the life expectancy in Dorchester?
There is no figure for Dorchester alone; its health region’s is 84.2 for women and 79.6 for men in 2022/2024.
How healthy is Dorchester?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 18%.
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).