Health in Exeter · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Only 45% of adults around Exeter call their health very good or excellent, below the typical Canadian town’s 52%
The region’s 2022/2024 life expectancy is 81.7, with women at 83.7 and men at 79.7. Closer to home, a hospital sits 3.4 km from the average resident of Exeter, about the norm of 3.7 km. Exeter grades B for health, #580 of 866 in Ontario and #1,797 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
Ontario: 51% · Measured across the Huron Perth Health Unit: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy
Chronic conditions
15%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Ontario: 17%
Smokers
12%
daily or occasional, age-standardised
Ontario: 11%
Life expectancy
81.7
at birth, 2022/2024
women 83.7 · men 79.7
Nearest hospital
3.4 km
residents’ average, straight line
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Health Grade
Exeter 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.
Very good or excellent health (45%)Better than 15% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (15%)Better than 66% of Canadian towns
Smokers (12%)Better than 63% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (81.7)Better than 70% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (3.4 km)Better than 79% of Canadian towns
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: #580 of 866 in Ontario and #1,797 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.
For its deprivation
As long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly longer
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Exeter’s lies near the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Deprivation explains most of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), and Exeter’s region is a typical case: 81.7 years at a score of 2.9, where the trend says 81.4. It outlives 8 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 81.2 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.
Conditions and habits
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (7.1%)
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
19%
Arthritis
25%
Diabetes
7.1%
Obese (self-reported)
40%
Mood disorder
12%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
12%
Smoke every day
11%
Heavy drinking
25%
Ontario
At 40%, self-reported obesity is above Ontario’s 30%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (25% against 17%).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 3.4 km from the average home in Exeter
Straight-line distances from each part of Exeter, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
3.4 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
13 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
3.3 km
residents’ average distance
1.1 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Nothing unusual for Exeter here: the typical town in Ontario is 3.3 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
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.
81.7
years at birth, 2022/2024
20.8
more years expected at 65
11th
longest of 34 regions in Ontario
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
York Regional Health Unit86.3
Peel Regional Health Unit85.3
Halton Regional Health Unit84.9
City of Toronto Health Unit84.7
City of Ottawa Health Unit83.7
Waterloo Health Unit82.8
Durham Regional Health Unit82.6
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit82.4
Middlesex-London Health Unit81.9
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit81.8
Huron Perth Health Unit81.7
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit81.5
Grey Bruce Health Unit81.3
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit81.3
City of Hamilton Health Unit81.2
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit81.2
Niagara Regional Area Health Unit81.2
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit81.0
Renfrew County and District Health Unit81.0
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit81.0
Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit80.6
Peterborough County—City Health Unit80.5
Brant County Health Unit80.4
Lambton Health Unit80.0
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit80.0
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit79.8
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit79.6
Sudbury and District Health Unit79.1
Chatham-Kent Health Unit78.6
The District of Algoma Health Unit77.9
Porcupine Health Unit77.3
Timiskaming Health Unit77.0
Thunder Bay District Health Unit76.5
Northwestern Health Unit73.7
Life expectancy in Ontario runs from 73.7 to 86.3; this region sits 11th of the 34.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability3.0
Economic dependency3.7
Ethno-cultural composition1.8
Situational vulnerability2.8
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Exeter’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health survey
44% 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
Health very good or excellent
44%
Health fair or poor
14%
Mental health very good or excellent
47%
Mental health fair or poor
16%
Most days quite a bit stressful
17%
Strong sense of belonging
73%
Satisfied with life
86%
Ontario
Mental health trails Ontario: 47% very good or excellent to 51%, with 17% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Towns its size
Exeter is 21st of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,545 to 11,059 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
Lucan falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 81.9 against 81.7 here. Residents of Lucan live further from a hospital, at 17 km against 3.4 km in Exeter.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Exeter itself is the trip to care.
•
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.
•
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.
•
Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
•
Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
•
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.
Questions about health in Exeter
How is Exeter’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Exeter: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Exeter?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Exeter?
For the health region that includes Exeter, women can expect 83.7 years and men 79.7 (2022/2024).
How far is Exeter from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Exeter live: 13 km to a clinic, 3.3 km to a pharmacy.
Photo: Deconstructhis · Public domain