Health in Ottawa · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Expect 83.7 years of life in the region around Ottawa, 2.2 above the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 56% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than Ontario’s 51%. Closer to home, a hospital is 6.3 km from the average resident of Ottawa, further than the usual 3.7 km. The region has fewer smokers than Ontario, 8.6% of adults to 11%.
Around Ottawa, only 5.9% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 4.1 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 56%. Health survey ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Ottawa can reach 18 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.9 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.
Health Grade
No Health grade for Ottawa yet
The inputs, each beside the typical one of Canadian towns: four for the health region, one for the town itself.
56%
very good or excellent health, region (typical town 52%)
16%
chronic conditions, region (typical town 17%)
8.6%
smokers, region (typical town 12%)
83.7
life expectancy, region (typical town 81.5)
6.3 km
to a hospital, town’s residents (typical town 3.7 km)
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.
Conditions and habits
In the region, high blood pressure (18%) and diabetes (6.6%)
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
18%
Arthritis
20%
Diabetes
6.6%
Obese (self-reported)
29%
Mood disorder
15%
Anxiety disorder
17%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
8.6%
Smoke every day
5.9%
Heavy drinking
18%
Ontario
Obesity is close to the province’s level, 29% of adults against 30% for Ontario.
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.
Health survey
More people rate their health highly here than in Ontario: 56% 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
Health very good or excellent
56%
Health fair or poor
15%
Mental health very good or excellent
50%
Mental health fair or poor
19%
Most days quite a bit stressful
25%
Strong sense of belonging
59%
Satisfied with life
82%
Ontario
On mental health the region tracks Ontario, 50% very good or excellent to 51%; 25% 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.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 6.3 km from the average home in Ottawa
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Ottawa’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
6.3 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
2.6 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
0.9 km
residents’ average distance
18 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
From Ottawa that is further than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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 Ottawa’s lies near the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Use the deprivation index alone and Ottawa’s region, at 2.3, should live about 83.6 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 83.7, near enough. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and it still beats 8, with 83.0 years in the middle.
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.
The wider area
Longest and shortest lives among the 34 regions in Ontario
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
83.7
years at birth, 2022/2024
22.1
more years expected at 65
5th
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
Of the 34 health regions in Ontario, 5th 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
Residential instability3.0
Economic dependency2.4
Ethno-cultural composition3.8
Situational vulnerability2.3
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Ottawa’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Neighbours
Health in the places around Ottawa
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
Carleton Heights-Courtland ParkBorden Farm - Fisher GlenFisher HeightsRiverside Park - Mooneys BayRiverside Park South - RevelstokeCarlingtonOttawa
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Ottawa’s regional figures. Residents of Carlington live nearer a hospital, at 1.6 km against 6.3 km in Ottawa.
How to read these numbers
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 Ottawa’s own.
•
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. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
•
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.
•
Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
•
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 Ottawa
Does Ottawa have a Health grade?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Ottawa’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Ottawa?
For the health region that includes Ottawa, women can expect 85.7 years and men 81.6 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Ottawa?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
How far is Ottawa from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Ottawa is 2.6 km from a clinic and 0.9 km from a pharmacy.
Photo: Harleyd613 · CC BY 4.0