Health in South River · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
On health, South River falls short of 94% of Canadian towns
Adults here are less upbeat about their health than the province: 47% very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario. Measured from where South River’s residents live, a hospital is 53 km away on average and 100% of them are over 30 km out. Health gives South River a grade of D.
Ontario: 51% · Measured across the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy
Chronic conditions
19%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Smoking is commoner around South River than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 14% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Far from a hospital
Residents of South River live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (53 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around South River runs 1.5 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 20.2 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More years than its deprivation would give
Deprivation alone, a score of 3.7, would put South River’s region near 78.2 years; it reaches 80.0. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
South River grades D for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (47%)Better than 22% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (19%)Better than 25% of Canadian towns
Smokers (18%)Better than 6% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (80.0)Better than 41% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (53 km)Better than 3% of Canadian towns
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.
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.
Conditions and habits
27% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 9.7% diabetes
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
27%
Arthritis
29%
Diabetes
9.7%
Obese (self-reported)
36%
Mood disorder
14%
Anxiety disorder
17%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
18%
Smoke every day
14%
Heavy drinking
24%
Ontario
More adults report obesity than across Ontario: 36%, the province 30%. At 24%, 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.
Getting care
Getting to hospital from South River: 53 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of South River, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
53 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
25 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
0.5 km
residents’ average distance
1.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
100%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Compared with 3.3 km for the typical town in Ontario and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, South River is on the far side.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 1.8 years ahead of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); South River’s region is above the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Measured against 102 regions, more deprivation means shorter lives, and steadily so (correlation −0.83). South River’s region, at 3.7, outlives the trend’s 78.2 years with 80.0. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 9 of 10; their median is 78.2 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.
The wider area
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.
80.0
years at birth, 2022/2024
20.2
more years expected at 65
24th
longest of 34 regions in Ontario
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
York Regional Health Unit86.3
Peel Regional Health Unit85.3
Halton Regional Health Unit84.9
City of Toronto Health Unit84.7
City of Ottawa Health Unit83.7
Waterloo Health Unit82.8
Durham Regional Health Unit82.6
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit82.4
Middlesex-London Health Unit81.9
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit81.8
Huron Perth Health Unit81.7
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit81.5
Grey Bruce Health Unit81.3
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit81.3
City of Hamilton Health Unit81.2
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit81.2
Niagara Regional Area Health Unit81.2
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit81.0
Renfrew County and District Health Unit81.0
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit81.0
Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit80.6
Peterborough County—City Health Unit80.5
Brant County Health Unit80.4
Lambton Health Unit80.0
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit80.0
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit79.8
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit79.6
Sudbury and District Health Unit79.1
Chatham-Kent Health Unit78.6
The District of Algoma Health Unit77.9
Porcupine Health Unit77.3
Timiskaming Health Unit77.0
Thunder Bay District Health Unit76.5
Northwestern Health Unit73.7
The region comes 24th of 34 in Ontario, where life expectancy runs from 73.7 to 86.3 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability4.0
Economic dependency5.0
Ethno-cultural composition2.0
Situational vulnerability5.0
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where South River’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.
Health survey
46% 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
Health very good or excellent
46%
Health fair or poor
20%
Mental health very good or excellent
49%
Mental health fair or poor
20%
Most days quite a bit stressful
25%
Strong sense of belonging
61%
Satisfied with life
81%
Ontario
Mental health is close to the province’s: 49% rate it very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario, and 25% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Neighbours
Health in the places around South River
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
The neighbours all sit in South River’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical.
How to read these numbers
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.
•
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.
•
Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: South River shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
•
Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
•
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.
•
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.
Questions about health in South River
How far is South River from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in South River is 25 km from a clinic and 0.5 km from a pharmacy.
How healthy is South River?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 19% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in South River?
Statistics Canada publishes it for South River’s health region only: 82.6 years for women and 77.6 for men (2022/2024).
How is South River’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far South River’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0