Photo: Rick Cordeiro · Public domain53% of adults around Central rate their health very good or excellent
A baby born in the region can expect 81.2 years, 83.5 for a girl and 79.0 for a boy (2022/2024). What sets Central apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 0.9 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Central grades B for health, #522 of 866 in Ontario and #1,593 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Central
Hospital care on the doorstep
The hospital is close for almost everyone in Central: 1.0 km from its centre of population. Getting care ↓
More households under strain
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Central at 4.1 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Central can reach 40 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.2 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.
Central 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: #522 of 866 in Ontario and #1,593 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.
Getting to hospital from Central: 0.9 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Central’s own, not the region’s.
From Central that is nearer than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 34 health regions in Ontario, 15th place goes to this one, between a low of 73.7 and a high of 86.3.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Central’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Barely ahead of regions as deprived
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Central’s, follows the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Central’s region, at 3.0, should live about 81.0 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 81.2, near enough. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 5 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 80.9 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.
22% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 9.5% 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
Self-reported obesity, 28%, sits within a few points of Ontario (30%). More adults drink heavily, 21% to the province’s 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.
Self-rated health beats Ontario: 54% 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
On mental health the region tracks Ontario, 52% very good or excellent to 51%; 27% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Central is 1st of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,648 to 3,746 people, median 4.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central ON B | 3,698 | 0.9 km | 53% |
| 2 | Eau Claire AB A+ | 3,733 | 1.2 km | 56% |
| 3 | West Kildonan Industrial MB B+ | 3,678 | 1.4 km | 52% |
| 40 | Powassan ON D | 3,657 | 30 km | 47% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Central
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 0.9 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
| Strathcona 1.0 km | 1.2 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
| North End East 1.2 km | 0.4 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Durand 1.2 km | 0.7 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Beasley 1.2 km | 0.4 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Corktown 1.6 km | 0.3 km | 53% | 81.2 | B+ |
| Kirkendall North 1.7 km | 1.0 km | 53% | 81.2 | B |
Every place around Central shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Central shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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 Central
How is Central’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Central’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Central?
The region does worse than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 17%.
How far is Central from a hospital?
Residents of Central have a clinic 0.5 km away on average and a pharmacy 0.2 km away, in straight lines.
What is the life expectancy in Central?
Women in Central’s region live to 83.5 on average and men to 79.0, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
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).