Photo: maar345 · CC BY 2.016% of adults smoke in the health region around Renfrew, against 12% for the typical Canadian town
Self-rated health is ordinary for Ontario: 50% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 51%. What sets Renfrew apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.7 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Renfrew grades C+ for health, #734 of 866 in Ontario and #2,154 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Renfrew
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 27% report high blood pressure and 10% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
More households under strain
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Renfrew’s neighbourhoods average 4.1 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. The wider area ↓
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
At 81.0 years, Renfrew’s region outlives the 79.2 that regions scoring 3.4 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Renfrew grades C+ 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: #734 of 866 in Ontario and #2,154 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.
A region that outlives its deprivation by 1.8 years
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Renfrew’s dot is marked, above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 3.4 on the index, the line expects 79.2 years; Renfrew’s region reaches 81.0. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (9 of 10), with a median of 79.1.
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.
High blood pressure for 27% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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
More adults report obesity than across Ontario: 40%, the province 30%. At 26%, heavy drinking beats 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.
How the 34 health regions in Ontario compare on life expectancy
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 34 health regions in Ontario, 18th 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
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Renfrew’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.
The nearest hospital is 1.7 km from the average home in Renfrew
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Renfrew’s own, not the region’s.
Renfrew is closer in than the provincial norm of 3.3 km in Ontario, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km.
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.
Self-rated health trails Ontario: 48% very good or excellent, against 51%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region is ahead of Ontario, 55% very good or excellent to 51%; 21% 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Renfrew is 10th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 8,523 to 8,907 people, median 3.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Centretown ON A+ | 8,560 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 2 | Iqaluit NU D | 8,612 | 0.8 km | 39% |
| 3 | Innisfail AB C+ | 8,736 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 8 | DT Cooksville ON A− | 8,864 | 1.3 km | 49% |
| 9 | Dauphin MB B− | 8,587 | 1.4 km | 51% |
| 10 | Renfrew ON C+ | 8,721 | 1.7 km | 50% |
| 11 | Trail BC A | 8,539 | 1.7 km | 55% |
| 12 | Nicolet QC A | 8,737 | 2.3 km | 61% |
| 40 | Stone Mills ON B− | 8,523 | 20 km | 53% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Renfrew
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renfrew | 1.7 km | 50% | 81.0 | C+ |
| Horton 8.3 km | 6.3 km | 50% | 81.0 | C+ |
| Admaston/Bromley 12 km | 14 km | 50% | 81.0 | C |
The neighbours all sit in Renfrew’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Admaston/Bromley is the furthest from care, 14 km to Renfrew’s 1.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- 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 Renfrew’s own.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
- 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.
Questions about health in Renfrew
How is Renfrew’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Renfrew has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Renfrew?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 19% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Renfrew?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Renfrew’s health region only: 83.0 years for women and 78.7 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Renfrew from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Renfrew is 0.8 km from a clinic and 0.9 km from 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).