Few places match Forest Hill for health: it beats 92% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 53%, ahead of the 51% for Ontario. Measured from where Forest Hill’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Forest Hill is A, #91 of 866 in Ontario and #487 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Forest Hill
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Forest Hill, a child can expect 1.3 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.2 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
With 24 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.6 km off, Forest Hill is well served for prescriptions. 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.
Forest Hill grades A 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: #91 of 866 in Ontario and #487 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.
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
Ranked 6th of 34 in Ontario: the regions span 73.7 to 86.3 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Forest Hill’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.
The nearest hospital is 1.7 km from the average home in Forest Hill
Straight-line distances from each part of Forest Hill, 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, Forest Hill 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.
As long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly longer
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Forest Hill’s region shows close to the trend.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 2.6 about 82.5 years; Forest Hill’s region’s 82.8 is within a year of it. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (7 of 10, median 82.5 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.
High blood pressure for 17% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8%
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across Ontario: 33%, the province 30%.
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: 55% very good or excellent, against 51%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
For 23% of adults most days are quite a bit stressful, and 52% 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.
Forest Hill is 9th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,663 to 5,843 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meadow Lake SK C | 5,667 | 0.6 km | 46% |
| 2 | Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire QC A+ | 5,764 | 0.7 km | 62% |
| 3 | Montcalm MB B+ | 5,676 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 7 | Parkview AB B+ | 5,729 | 1.6 km | 51% |
| 8 | Duncan BC B | 5,745 | 1.7 km | 47% |
| 9 | Forest Hill ON A | 5,760 | 1.7 km | 53% |
| 10 | Remington Park ON B+ | 5,783 | 1.7 km | 52% |
| 11 | Buena Vista SK B+ | 5,777 | 1.7 km | 49% |
| 40 | Electoral Area B, Peace River BC D | 5,814 | 47 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Forest Hill
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hill | 1.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside 0.8 km | 0.8 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Laurentian Hills 1.5 km | 2.1 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Victoria Hills 1.7 km | 1.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Forest Heights 1.9 km | 3.6 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Victoria Park 2.2 km | 0.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Southdale 2.3 km | 1.2 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
Same region, same survey: Forest Hill’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
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 Forest Hill’s own.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
Questions about health in Forest Hill
How is Forest Hill’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Forest Hill’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Forest Hill?
Women in Forest Hill’s region live to 84.9 on average and men to 80.7, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Forest Hill?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
How far is Forest Hill from a hospital?
Residents of Forest Hill have a clinic 0.7 km away on average and a pharmacy 0.6 km away, in straight lines.
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).