Health in Whitby · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Around Whitby, 50% of adults call their health very good or excellent
Women in the region live to 84.7 and men to 80.5, 82.6 years taken together (2022/2024). The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Whitby’s is long: 5.1 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Whitby a grade of B, #548 of 866 in Ontario and #1,697 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
Whitby’s region sits 1.1 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.0 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run high
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 23% report high blood pressure and 10% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
A typical home in Whitby has 5.9 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 1.2 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
Whitby grades B 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 (50%)Better than 39% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (19%)Better than 23% of Canadian towns
Smokers (11%)Better than 78% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (82.6)Better than 85% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (5.1 km)Better than 72% 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. Its place: #548 of 866 in Ontario and #1,697 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.
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.
82.6
years at birth, 2022/2024
21.0
more years expected at 65
7th
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
Among the 34 regions in Ontario, from 73.7 to 86.3 years, this one is 7th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.2
Economic dependency2.2
Ethno-cultural composition4.1
Situational vulnerability1.9
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Whitby’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.
Conditions and habits
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (10%)
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
23%
Arthritis
22%
Diabetes
10%
Obese (self-reported)
36%
Mood disorder
9%
Anxiety disorder
15%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
12%
Smoke every day
8.5%
Heavy drinking
15%
Ontario
At 36%, self-reported obesity is above Ontario’s 30%.
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 Whitby: 5.1 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Whitby, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
5.1 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
2.8 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
1.2 km
residents’ average distance
5.9 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
From Whitby that is further than the 3.3 km of the typical town in Ontario, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Whitby’s region shows close to the trend.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.5, the expected figure is 82.8 years, and Whitby’s region matches it closely with 82.6. The 10 regions closest to it on the index split evenly around it, 5 above and 5 below; their median is 82.7 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.
Health survey
50% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to 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
50%
Health fair or poor
13%
Mental health very good or excellent
52%
Mental health fair or poor
15%
Most days quite a bit stressful
24%
Strong sense of belonging
62%
Satisfied with life
83%
Ontario
Asked about their mental health, 52% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Ontario it was 51%, and 24% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Towns its size
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Whitby comes 31st of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (105,925 to 243,107 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.8 km.
Nothing in the regional columns separates Whitby from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does.
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.
•
Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Whitby shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
•
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.
•
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 Whitby
How is Whitby’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Whitby’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Whitby?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.7 for women, 80.5 for men around Whitby (2022/2024).
How healthy is Whitby?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 19%.
How far is Whitby from a hospital?
For everyday care, Whitby’s residents are 1.2 km from a pharmacy and 2.8 km from a clinic on average.
Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0