Photo: Laroutedesvins · CC BY-SA 4.0Health in Dunham beats 94% of Canadian towns
On self-rated health the region tracks the province: 57% very good or excellent, 57% for Quebec. For Dunham itself the measure is access, and it lags: 6.8 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. The Health grade for Dunham is A, #98 of 503 in Quebec and #351 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Dunham
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
At 82.9 years, Dunham’s region outlives the 81.0 that regions scoring 3.0 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Less chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 19% of adults, diabetes for 9.1%. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Born around Dunham, 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 ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 5.4 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 56%. Health survey ↓
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.
Dunham 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: #98 of 503 in Quebec and #351 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.
1.9 years above the line for regions this deprived
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Dunham’s region, above the line, stands for every town in it.
Measured against 102 regions, more deprivation means shorter lives, and steadily so (correlation −0.83). Dunham’s region, at 3.0, outlives the trend’s 81.0 years with 82.9. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 9 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 80.4 years. Judged by income, around $67,000 a household, the region would look poorly placed, but income tracks life expectancy only weakly between regions (0.14), and this one outlives most.
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 (19%) and diabetes (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
Obesity tracks the province: 29% of adults here, 29% across Quebec.
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 across the 18 health regions in Quebec
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
Ranked 3rd of 18 in Quebec: the regions span 65.2 to 84.1 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Dunham itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
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
On mental health the region tracks Quebec, 63% very good or excellent to 64%; 20% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Dunham: 6.8 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Dunham, weighted by who lives there.
Against 5.3 km for the typical town in Quebec and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Dunham sits near the middle.
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.
Mid-table for hospital distance among towns its size: Dunham comes 22nd of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (3,580 to 3,687 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ste. Anne MB B | 3,587 | 0.7 km | 51% |
| 2 | Eaglemere MB B+ | 3,631 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 3 | West Kildonan Industrial MB B+ | 3,678 | 1.4 km | 52% |
| 20 | Hudson AB B | 3,634 | 5.4 km | 51% |
| 21 | Rapperswill AB B | 3,639 | 6.5 km | 51% |
| 22 | Dunham QC A | 3,632 | 6.8 km | 57% |
| 23 | Woodbridge Meadows ON A− | 3,651 | 8.1 km | 51% |
| 24 | Colebrook BC A | 3,617 | 8.3 km | 50% |
| 40 | Opportunity No. 17 AB D− | 3,592 | 112 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Dunham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunham | 6.8 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Cowansville 6.7 km | 1.6 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Brigham 11 km | 8.3 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Frelighsburg 12 km | 17 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Sutton 15 km | 15 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Bedford 16 km | 20 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby 19 km | 11 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Dunham from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Bedford is the furthest from care, 20 km to Dunham’s 6.8 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Dunham itself is the trip to care.
- 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. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Dunham
How healthy is Dunham?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
What is the life expectancy in Dunham?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.8 for women, 81.0 for men around Dunham (2022/2024).
How is Dunham’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 Dunham’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Dunham from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Dunham is 6.7 km from a clinic and 6.8 km from a pharmacy.
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).