Photo: Mike Kalasnik from Charlotte, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Few places match Iris for health: it beats 95% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 56% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than Ontario’s 51%. What sets Iris apart within its region is distance, and at 2.7 km to a hospital it is ordinary (3.7 km typical). Iris grades A+ for health, #34 of 866 in Ontario and #264 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Iris
A long-lived region
Born around Iris, a child can expect 2.2 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 22.1 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A region that smokes less
Smoking is rarer around Iris than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 5.9% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Even once age is allowed for, 4.1 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (56% as answered). Health survey ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
A typical home in Iris has 23 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.4 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Iris 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: #34 of 866 in Ontario and #264 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
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Among the 34 regions in Ontario, from 73.7 to 86.3 years, this one is 5th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Iris’ 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.
High blood pressure for 18% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.6%
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
At 29%, self-reported obesity is near Ontario’s 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.
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
Asked about their mental health, 50% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Ontario it was 51%, and 25% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Iris: 2.7 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Iris’ own, not the region’s.
Against 3.3 km for the typical town in Ontario and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Iris sits near the middle.
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.
Life expectancy about where the region’s deprivation puts it, a shade above
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Iris’, follows the trend.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Iris’ region fits it, 83.7 years at 2.3 against the line’s 83.6. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, shorter lives win out: 8 of the 10, around a median of 83.0 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.
Iris is 15th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 5,642 to 5,829 people, median 3.9 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% |
| 13 | New Edinburgh ON A+ | 5,728 | 1.8 km | 56% |
| 14 | Westwood MB B+ | 5,716 | 2.0 km | 52% |
| 15 | Iris ON A+ | 5,733 | 2.7 km | 56% |
| 16 | Sandstone Valley AB A+ | 5,816 | 2.8 km | 56% |
| 17 | Rosedale Village ON A− | 5,764 | 3.0 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 Iris
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | 2.7 km | 56% | 83.7 | A+ |
| Queensway Terrace North 1.1 km | 3.0 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Centrepointe - Briargreen 1.3 km | 3.0 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Qualicum - Redwood 1.4 km | 1.2 km | 56% | 83.7 | A+ |
| Bayshore 1.9 km | 1.9 km | 56% | 83.7 | A+ |
| Britannia 1.9 km | 3.4 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Leslie Park - Bruce Farm 2.0 km | 0.9 km | 56% | 83.7 | A+ |
One health region covers Iris and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same.
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 Iris’ own.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Iris
How is Iris’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Iris’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Iris?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.7 for women, 81.6 for men around Iris (2022/2024).
How healthy is Iris?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
How far is Iris from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Iris live: 1.0 km to a clinic, 0.4 km to a pharmacy.
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).