Photo: Wesoree · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places match Thornlea for health: it beats 90% of Canadian towns
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Ontario, 51% against 51%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Thornlea is well placed: 1.4 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Thornlea grades A for health, #131 of 866 in Ontario and #586 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Thornlea
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Thornlea, a child can expect 4.8 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 23.7 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Near a hospital
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Thornlea; from its centre of population the trip is 1.1 km. Getting care ↓
Easier circumstances
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Thornlea at 1.1 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the bottom band. The wider area ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
With 9.5 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.6 km off, Thornlea is well served for prescriptions. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Thornlea 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: #131 of 866 in Ontario and #586 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.
Life expectancy across the 34 health regions in Ontario
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Top of the 34 regions in Ontario: the lowest figure is 73.7, 12.6 years below the highest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Thornlea’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 1.4 km from the average home in Thornlea
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Thornlea’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 3.3 km for the typical town in Ontario and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Thornlea 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.
Longer-lived than its deprivation suggests, by 1.3 years
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Thornlea’s, lies over the trend.
The trend over 102 regions (correlation −0.83) is clear, and Thornlea’s region sits above it: 86.3 years where a score of 1.9 predicts 85.0. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean shorter-lived: 9 of them below it, a median of 83.5.
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (21%) and diabetes (7.8%)
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
Fewer adults report obesity than across Ontario: 23%, the province 30%. At 9.8%, heavy drinking trails the provincial 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.
50% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Ontario (51%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 53% very good or excellent against 51% for Ontario; stress is a daily matter for 25%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Thornlea is 11th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 20,298 to 21,455 people, median 2.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Édouard-Montpetit QC A | 20,601 | 0.5 km | 54% |
| 2 | Englemount-Lawrence ON A | 21,455 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Upper Lachine QC A | 21,130 | 0.8 km | 54% |
| 9 | Sacré-Coeur QC A | 20,375 | 1.3 km | 55% |
| 10 | Black Creek ON A | 21,307 | 1.3 km | 50% |
| 11 | Thornlea ON A | 20,872 | 1.4 km | 51% |
| 12 | Tillsonburg ON B− | 21,450 | 1.5 km | 49% |
| 13 | Camrose AB C+ | 20,800 | 1.5 km | 52% |
| 40 | Bridgenorth ON C | 20,628 | 14 km | 47% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Thornlea
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornlea | 1.4 km | 51% | 86.3 | A |
| German Mills 2.0 km | 2.7 km | 51% | 86.3 | A |
| Langstaff 2.3 km | 1.6 km | 51% | 86.3 | A |
| Steeles Corners 2.8 km | 1.7 km | 51% | 86.3 | A |
| Bayview Woods-Steeles 3.6 km | 1.9 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
| Hillcrest Village 3.9 km | 3.3 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
| Newtonbrook East 4.0 km | 0.8 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
Bayview Woods-Steeles falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 84.7 against 86.3 here.
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 Thornlea’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.
- 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.
- 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. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
Questions about health in Thornlea
What is the life expectancy in Thornlea?
Women in Thornlea’s region live to 87.9 on average and men to 84.6, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is Thornlea from a hospital?
A clinic is 1.8 km from the average resident of Thornlea and a pharmacy 0.6 km, as the crow flies.
How healthy is Thornlea?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. Chronic conditions there average 16% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How is Thornlea’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Thornlea’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
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).