Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.050% of adults around Pickering rate their health very good or excellent
For 2022/2024, the region’s figure is 82.6 years at birth, 84.7 for women and 80.5 for men. Closer to home, a hospital is 6.1 km from the average resident of Pickering, further than the usual 3.7 km. Pickering grades B for health, #558 of 866 in Ontario and #1,730 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Pickering
A long-lived region
Born around Pickering, a child can expect 1.1 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.0 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A heavier load of illness
For its ages, the region carries more long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 23% of adults, diabetes for 10%. Conditions and habits ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
A typical home in Pickering has 8.4 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 1.1 km away. 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.
Pickering grades B 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: #558 of 866 in Ontario and #1,730 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.
How the 34 health regions in Ontario compare on life expectancy
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 7th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Pickering’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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 36%, self-reported obesity is above 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.
From Pickering, a hospital is 6.1 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Pickering, 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, Pickering 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.
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Pickering’s region shows close to the trend.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.5, the expected figure is 82.8 years, and Pickering’s region matches it closely with 82.6. The 10 regions closest to it on the index split evenly around it, 5 above and 5 below; their median is 82.7 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.
50% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Ontario (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 24% of adults on most days; mental health is rated very good or excellent by 52%, the province 51% (Ontario).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Pickering is 35th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (85,944 to 162,413 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria BC A+ | 103,888 | 1.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | New Westminster BC A | 92,124 | 1.8 km | 48% |
| 3 | Airdrie AB A+ | 92,544 | 2.3 km | 56% |
| 33 | Delta BC A | 124,670 | 5.2 km | 50% |
| 34 | Kamloops BC C+ | 108,793 | 5.5 km | 48% |
| 35 | Pickering ON B | 118,378 | 6.1 km | 50% |
| 36 | Repentigny QC A− | 91,290 | 6.2 km | 56% |
| 37 | Strathcona County AB B | 107,345 | 6.2 km | 51% |
| 40 | Bolton ON B+ | 90,201 | 12 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Pickering
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickering | 6.1 km | 50% | 82.6 | B |
| West Rouge 5.9 km | 4.8 km | 50% | 84.7 | A− |
| Ajax 6.6 km | 3.2 km | 50% | 82.6 | B |
| Centennial Scarborough 7.3 km | 4.6 km | 50% | 84.7 | A− |
| Highland Creek 7.9 km | 2.8 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
| Morningside Heights 8.5 km | 2.3 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
| Malvern East 9.7 km | 1.1 km | 50% | 84.7 | A |
Not every neighbour shares the region: West Rouge’s life expectancy is 84.7, this region’s 82.6. Malvern East is the closest to care, 1.1 km to Pickering’s 6.1 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Pickering alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Pickering
How is Pickering’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Pickering’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Pickering?
There is no figure for Pickering alone; its health region’s is 84.7 for women and 80.5 for men in 2022/2024.
How healthy is Pickering?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 19%.
How far is Pickering from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Pickering live: 3.1 km to a clinic, 1.1 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).