Health in Toronto · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Toronto’s region outlives the typical Canadian town by 3.2 years: life expectancy 84.7
Across the region, 50% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Ontario (51%). For Toronto itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.8 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Smoking is rarer than in the province: 9.2% of adults, against 11% for Ontario.
Regions scoring 2.8 on the deprivation index typically live 81.7 years; Toronto’s region, at 84.7, does better. For its deprivation ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
A typical home in Toronto has 43 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.4 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.
Health Grade
No Health grade for Toronto yet
What the grade will weigh: the region’s survey and life expectancy, and the town’s own distance to a hospital, each against Canadian towns.
50%
very good or excellent health, region (typical town 52%)
16%
chronic conditions, region (typical town 17%)
9.2%
smokers, region (typical town 12%)
84.7
life expectancy, region (typical town 81.5)
1.8 km
to a hospital, town’s residents (typical town 3.7 km)
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.
For its deprivation
3.0 years above the line for regions this deprived
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Toronto’s dot is marked, above the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Toronto’s region beats it: 84.7 years against the 81.7 the trend gives a score of 2.8. No region among the 10 scored most like it does better; they centre on 81.1 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.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 1.8 km from the average home in Toronto
Straight-line distances from each part of Toronto, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
1.8 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
1.2 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
0.4 km
residents’ average distance
43 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Toronto is closer in than the provincial norm of 3.3 km in Ontario, and than the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km.
18% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 7.2% diabetes
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
18%
Arthritis
18%
Diabetes
7.2%
Obese (self-reported)
23%
Mood disorder
13%
Anxiety disorder
11%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
9.1%
Smoke every day
6%
Heavy drinking
15%
Ontario
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 23% of adults against 30% for Ontario.
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.
The wider area
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.
84.7
years at birth, 2022/2024
23.0
more years expected at 65
4th
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 4th 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 instability3.6
Economic dependency3.0
Ethno-cultural composition4.7
Situational vulnerability2.8
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Toronto’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
Self-rated health much as in Ontario: 51% to 51%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
51%
Health fair or poor
15%
Mental health very good or excellent
50%
Mental health fair or poor
17%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
58%
Satisfied with life
80%
Ontario
Mental wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 50% very good or excellent against 51% for Ontario; stress is a daily matter for 22%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Neighbours
Health in the places around Toronto
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
North TorontoMount Pleasant EastBridle Path-Sunnybrook-York MillsLawrence Park SouthSouth Eglinton-DavisvilleYonge-EglintonToronto
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Toronto’s regional figures.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
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.
•
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.
•
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 Toronto’s own.
•
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.
•
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.
Questions about health in Toronto
What is the life expectancy in Toronto?
For the health region that includes Toronto, women can expect 87.2 years and men 82.0 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Toronto?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
How far is Toronto from a hospital?
For everyday care, Toronto’s residents are 0.4 km from a pharmacy and 1.2 km from a clinic on average.
Does Toronto have a Health grade?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Toronto’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
Photo: OldYorkGuy · CC BY-SA 3.0