Photo: Fdesjardins · CC BY 3.0Life expectancy around Vars is 83.7 years, 2.2 more than for the typical Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 56%, ahead of the 51% for Ontario. What sets Vars apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 23 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Vars grades A− for health, #395 of 866 in Ontario and #1,062 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Vars
Far from a hospital
Distance is Vars’ own health question: 0% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 24 km. Getting care ↓
A region that smokes less
The age-standardised smoking rate around Vars is well below the typical town’s; 5.9% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs high
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 4.1 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 56% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Vars 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: #395 of 866 in Ontario and #1,062 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.
The nearest hospital is 23 km from the average home in Vars
Straight-line distances from each part of Vars, 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, Vars is on the far 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.
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
Habits · 2023/2024
About as many adults report obesity as across Ontario: 29%, 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.
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
Stress touches 25% of adults on most days; mental health is rated very good or excellent by 50%, the province 51% (Ontario).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
As long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly longer
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Vars’, follows the trend.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Vars’ region fits it, 83.7 years at 2.3 against the line’s 83.6. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 8 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 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.
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
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
This is the one part of the block measured for Vars itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Vars is 35th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,731 to 2,806 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterridge Village ON A+ | 2,737 | 0.6 km | 56% |
| 2 | Kuujjuaq QC | 2,766 | 0.7 km | – |
| 3 | Kameyosek AB B+ | 2,761 | 0.7 km | 51% |
| 33 | Victoria County, Subdivision A NS D | 2,746 | 18 km | 49% |
| 34 | Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse QC B+ | 2,739 | 18 km | 59% |
| 35 | Vars ON A− | 2,767 | 23 km | 56% |
| 36 | Electoral Area E, Peace River BC C− | 2,737 | 23 km | 43% |
| 37 | Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay BC B | 2,758 | 25 km | 55% |
| 40 | Atikokan ON D | 2,796 | 72 km | 44% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Vars
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vars | 23 km | 56% | 83.7 | A− |
| Navan - Sarsfield 8.5 km | 17 km | 56% | 83.7 | A− |
| Embrun 11 km | 21 km | 49% | 81.0 | C |
| Edwards - Carlsbad Springs 11 km | 14 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Portobello South 14 km | 13 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Cardinal Creek 16 km | 13 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
| Chapel Hill South 16 km | 9.6 km | 56% | 83.7 | A |
Embrun falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 81.0 against 83.7 here. Chapel Hill South is the closest to care, 9.6 km to Vars’ 23 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- 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 Vars’ own.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Vars
How far is Vars from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Vars live: 16 km to a clinic, 7.6 km to a pharmacy.
How is Vars’ Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Vars’ own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Vars?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Vars’ health region only: 85.7 years for women and 81.6 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Vars?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s. Chronic conditions there average 16% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
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).