Photo: William Matheson from Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.051% of adults around West River rate their health very good or excellent
Across the region, life runs to 81.2 years on average: women 83.3, men 79.1, in 2022/2024. For West River itself the measure is access, and it lags: 15 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. West River grades B− for health, #1,974 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in West River
A long way to hospital
Residents of West River live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (17 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 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.
West River 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.
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: #1,974 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.
From West River, a hospital is 15 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is West River’s own, not the region’s.
West River is further out than the provincial norm of 8.5 km on Prince Edward Island, 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.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding West River’s lies near the line.
Deprivation explains most of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), and West River’s region is a typical case: 81.2 years at a score of 2.8, where the trend says 81.6. It outlives 5 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 81.1 years. Income would point the wrong way: households in the region’s towns earn about $74,000, less than in most regions, yet lives here are longer than in most (across regions, income and life expectancy correlate at just 0.14).
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (9.3%)
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
About as many adults report obesity as across Prince Edward Island: 37%, the province 37%.
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.
Life expectancy in the region: 81.2 years
Regional life expectancy on Prince Edward Island, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
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 West River’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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Prince Edward Island: 50% and 50%
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
Asked about their mental health, 50% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Prince Edward Island it was 50%, and 19% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: West River comes 36th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,092 to 4,216 people, median 4.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Pocatière QC A | 4,206 | 0.9 km | 60% |
| 2 | Sunalta AB A+ | 4,151 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 3 | Balfour ON B | 4,171 | 1.0 km | 53% |
| 34 | L'Ange-Gardien QC A+ | 4,106 | 13 km | 62% |
| 35 | Carleton-sur-Mer QC C+ | 4,175 | 13 km | 56% |
| 36 | West River PE B− | 4,155 | 15 km | 51% |
| 37 | Lake of Bays ON B | 4,105 | 17 km | 54% |
| 38 | Napierville QC A− | 4,187 | 19 km | 55% |
| 40 | Northern Lights County AB D− | 4,115 | 25 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around West River
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West River | 15 km | 51% | 81.2 | B− |
| Cornwall 9.9 km | 8.2 km | 51% | 81.2 | B |
| Kingston 12 km | 17 km | 51% | 81.2 | B− |
| Charlottetown 15 km | 3.3 km | 51% | 81.2 | B |
| Stratford 15 km | 4.5 km | 51% | 81.2 | B |
| Miltonvale Park 17 km | 11 km | 51% | 81.2 | B |
| Crapaud, Part 1 18 km | 26 km | 51% | 81.2 | C+ |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry West River’s regional figures. Charlottetown is the closest to care, 3.3 km to West River’s 15 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for West River itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
Questions about health in West River
How is West River’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for West River: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is West River from a hospital?
For everyday care, West River’s residents are 12 km from a pharmacy and 12 km from a clinic on average.
How healthy is West River?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 17%.
What is the life expectancy in West River?
Statistics Canada publishes it for West River’s health region only: 83.3 years for women and 79.1 for men (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).