Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterloo scores better for health than 89% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 53% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Ontario as a whole manages 51%. For Waterloo itself the measure is access: 4.1 km to the nearest hospital, much like the typical 3.7 km. Waterloo grades A for health, #218 of 866 in Ontario and #731 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Waterloo
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Waterloo, a child can expect 1.3 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.2 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Pharmacies on every corner
A typical home in Waterloo has 12 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.8 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Waterloo grades A 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: #218 of 866 in Ontario and #731 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.
Life expectancy across the 34 health regions in Ontario
Regional life expectancy in Ontario, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Life expectancy in Ontario runs from 73.7 to 86.3; this region sits 6th of the 34.
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 Waterloo’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.
Getting to hospital from Waterloo: 4.1 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Waterloo’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of Waterloo travel about as far as most of the province: the typical town in Ontario is 3.3 km from a hospital, 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.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which edges past the trend
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Waterloo’s region shows close to the trend.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Waterloo’s region fits it, 82.8 years at 2.6 against the line’s 82.5. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and it still beats 7, with 82.5 years in the middle.
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 17% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8%
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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 33% 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.
Self-rated health beats Ontario: 55% very good or excellent, against 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
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across Ontario (52% against 51%), while 23% call most days stressful.
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: Waterloo comes 24th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 100,806 to 197,737 people, median 3.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria BC A+ | 103,888 | 1.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | St. Catharines ON C+ | 153,865 | 2.6 km | 49% |
| 3 | Moncton NB B− | 102,378 | 2.7 km | 43% |
| 22 | Kingston ON B+ | 149,527 | 3.9 km | 53% |
| 23 | Lévis QC A | 160,882 | 4.1 km | 59% |
| 24 | Waterloo ON A | 142,450 | 4.1 km | 53% |
| 25 | Maple Ridge BC A | 105,925 | 4.1 km | 48% |
| 26 | Nanaimo BC B− | 111,845 | 4.2 km | 47% |
| 40 | Terrebonne QC B+ | 126,872 | 9.7 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Waterloo
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 4.1 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Westmount 3.3 km | 1.5 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Cherry Hill 3.4 km | 0.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Mt. Hope Huron Park 3.6 km | 1.1 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Fairfield 3.7 km | 1.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Victoria Hills 3.9 km | 1.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
| Victoria Park 4.4 km | 0.7 km | 53% | 82.8 | A |
The neighbours all sit in Waterloo’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Cherry Hill is the closest to care, 0.7 km to Waterloo’s 4.1 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Waterloo alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Waterloo
How is Waterloo’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 Waterloo’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Waterloo?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.9 for women, 80.7 for men around Waterloo (2022/2024).
How healthy is Waterloo?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 16% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Waterloo from a hospital?
For everyday care, Waterloo’s residents are 0.8 km from a pharmacy and 2.0 km from a clinic on average.
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).