Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainThe region around Bedford carries less chronic illness than the typical Canadian town: 14% to 17%
Across the region, 57% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Quebec (57%). What sets Bedford apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 20 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Bedford grades A− for health, #331 of 503 in Quebec and #973 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Bedford
Far from a hospital
For 0% of homes in Bedford the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 20 km. Getting care ↓
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 3.0 on the deprivation index typically live 81.0 years; Bedford’s region, at 82.9, does better. For its deprivation ↓
A long-lived region
Born around Bedford, a child can expect 1.4 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.2 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 5.4 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (56% as answered). Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Bedford 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: #331 of 503 in Quebec and #973 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 nearest hospital is 20 km from the average home in Bedford
Straight-line distances from each part of Bedford, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Bedford travel further than most of the province: the typical town in Quebec is 5.3 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.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 1.9 years ahead of the trend
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Bedford’s, lies over the trend.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 3.0, the expected figure is 81.0 years, and Bedford’s region does better with 82.9. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (9 of 10), with a median of 80.4. Modest pay, about $67,000 a household, and long lives sit side by side here: across regions, income and life expectancy hardly move together (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.
How the 18 health regions in Quebec compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Quebec, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
The region comes 3rd of 18 in Quebec, where life expectancy runs from 65.2 to 84.1 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Bedford’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health much as in Quebec: 56% to 56%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Asked about their mental health, 63% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Quebec it was 64%, and 20% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
High blood pressure for 19% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.1%
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
Self-reported obesity, 29%, sits within a few points of Quebec (29%).
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.
Among 40 towns its size, Bedford is 29th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,809 to 2,880 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westmount SK A− | 2,872 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 2 | Forestville QC B+ | 2,835 | 0.9 km | 61% |
| 3 | McKernan AB B+ | 2,880 | 0.9 km | 51% |
| 27 | Navan - Sarsfield ON A− | 2,853 | 17 km | 56% |
| 28 | Ferme-Neuve QC A | 2,816 | 18 km | 60% |
| 29 | Bedford QC A− | 2,845 | 20 km | 57% |
| 30 | Perry ON D | 2,866 | 20 km | 47% |
| 31 | Rougemont QC A− | 2,832 | 20 km | 55% |
| 40 | Saint-Michel-des-Saints QC B | 2,841 | 76 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Bedford
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 20 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Saint-Armand 11 km | 28 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Sainte-Sabine 14 km | 20 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Venise-en-Québec 14 km | 30 km | 55% | 82.5 | B+ |
| Dunham 16 km | 6.8 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Alexandre 17 km | 16 km | 55% | 82.5 | A− |
| Frelighsburg 17 km | 17 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
Venise-en-Québec falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 82.5 against 82.9 here. Residents of Dunham live nearer a hospital, at 6.8 km against 20 km in Bedford.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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.
- 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 Bedford’s own.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
Questions about health in Bedford
How far is Bedford from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Bedford live: 0.6 km to a clinic, 0.6 km to a pharmacy.
How is Bedford’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Bedford’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Bedford?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Chronic conditions there average 14% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Bedford?
Women in Bedford’s region live to 84.8 on average and men to 81.0, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
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).