Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Expect 80.0 years of life in the region around Sarnia, 1.5 under the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 49% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Ontario as a whole reaches 51%. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Sarnia live 3.4 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Health gives Sarnia a grade of C+, #710 of 866 in Ontario and #2,098 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sarnia
Fewer years than its deprivation would give
For a deprivation score of 2.8, the trend across regions gives 81.7 years of life; Sarnia’s region reaches only 80.0. For its deprivation ↓
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Sarnia is well above the typical town’s; 12% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
With 7.1 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 1.1 km off, Sarnia is well served for prescriptions. 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.
Sarnia 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: #710 of 866 in Ontario and #2,098 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.
1.7 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Sarnia’s region’s dot is under the line.
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 2.8, Sarnia’s region’s 80.0 years sit under the line’s 81.7. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 8 still live longer, with 81.3 years in the middle. Households here earn around $83,000, more than in most regions, but the region still lives less long than most; across regions income barely tracks life expectancy (correlation 0.14).
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 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.4%
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 37%, self-reported obesity is above Ontario’s 30%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (24% against 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.
Getting to hospital from Sarnia: 3.4 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Sarnia, weighted by who lives there.
Nothing unusual for Sarnia here: the typical town in Ontario is 3.3 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 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.
Life expectancy across the 34 health 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
Life expectancy in Ontario runs from 73.7 to 86.3; this region sits 24th of the 34.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Sarnia’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
48% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in 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
Neither ahead nor behind Ontario on mental health (51% to 51%), the region has 22% of adults stressed most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Mid-table for hospital distance among towns its size: Sarnia comes 20th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (60,874 to 106,752 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Vancouver BC A+ | 66,624 | 1.1 km | 59% |
| 2 | Victoria BC A+ | 103,888 | 1.5 km | 55% |
| 3 | New Westminster BC A | 92,124 | 1.8 km | 48% |
| 18 | Saint John NB C | 79,371 | 3.4 km | 43% |
| 19 | Drummondville QC A | 85,560 | 3.4 km | 61% |
| 20 | Sarnia ON C+ | 80,539 | 3.4 km | 49% |
| 21 | Port Coquitlam BC A | 67,724 | 3.4 km | 48% |
| 22 | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu QC A | 100,806 | 3.5 km | 55% |
| 40 | Lindsay ON C | 85,351 | 13 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sarnia
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarnia | 3.4 km | 49% | 80.0 | C+ |
| Point Edward 3.6 km | 2.6 km | 49% | 80.0 | B− |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Sarnia from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Sarnia alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
Questions about health in Sarnia
How is Sarnia’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Sarnia’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Sarnia?
Women in Sarnia’s region live to 82.2 on average and men to 77.8, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Sarnia?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 18%.
How far is Sarnia from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Sarnia is 2.1 km from a clinic and 1.1 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).