Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.0On health, Stirling falls short of 92% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 45%, behind the 51% for Ontario. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Stirling’s is long: 18 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Stirling a grade of D, #859 of 866 in Ontario and #2,528 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Stirling
A region that smokes more
Around Stirling, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Distance is Stirling’s own health question: 0% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 16 km. Getting care ↓
Shorter lives in the region
Born around Stirling, a child can expect 1.7 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 20.0 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Fewer people feeling well
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 6.7 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 43% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
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.
Stirling 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.
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: #859 of 866 in Ontario and #2,528 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (28%) and diabetes (11%)
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: 39%, the province 30%. At 25%, 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 to hospital from Stirling: 18 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Stirling, weighted by who lives there.
Stirling is further out 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.
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
The region comes 26th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Stirling 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.
43% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in Ontario (51%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Fewer adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across Ontario (47% against 51%), while 27% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Life expectancy close to where deprivation puts it, a shade under
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Stirling’s region comes out on the trend.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 3.2 about 80.0 years; Stirling’s region’s 79.8 is within a year of it. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores outlive it (7 of 10, median 81.2 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Stirling is 34th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,386 to 5,597 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hillview AB B+ | 5,473 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 2 | West Meadowlark Park AB B+ | 5,386 | 0.6 km | 51% |
| 3 | Stonewall MB C | 5,443 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 32 | Cookshire-Eaton QC A− | 5,491 | 17 km | 57% |
| 33 | Metcalfe ON A− | 5,434 | 18 km | 56% |
| 34 | Stirling ON D | 5,489 | 18 km | 45% |
| 35 | Hudson QC B+ | 5,533 | 21 km | 55% |
| 36 | New Glasgow PE B− | 5,502 | 22 km | 51% |
| 40 | Gananoque ON C | 5,568 | 28 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Stirling
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | 18 km | 45% | 79.8 | D |
| Campbellford 19 km | 8.0 km | 49% | 81.0 | C+ |
Not every neighbour shares the region: Campbellford’s life expectancy is 81.0, this region’s 79.8. Residents of Campbellford live nearer a hospital, at 8.0 km against 18 km in Stirling.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Stirling shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Stirling
How is Stirling’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Stirling’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Stirling from a hospital?
Residents of Stirling have a clinic 16 km away on average and a pharmacy 4.1 km away, in straight lines.
How healthy is Stirling?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 20%.
What is the life expectancy in Stirling?
For the health region that includes Stirling, women can expect 81.8 years and men 77.8 (2022/2024).
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).