Photo: Simon Villeneuve · CC BY-SA 3.0Lac-Mégantic scores better for health than 97% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 57% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Quebec (57%). Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.8 km from the average resident of Lac-Mégantic, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. The Health grade for Lac-Mégantic is A+, #61 of 503 in Quebec and #130 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Lac-Mégantic
More years than its deprivation would give
Lac-Mégantic’s region beats what its deprivation score of 3.0 predicts: 82.9 years against 81.0. For its deprivation ↓
A lighter load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 19% report high blood pressure and 9.1% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Lac-Mégantic’s region sits 1.4 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.2 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More people feeling well
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 5.4 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 56% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Lac-Mégantic 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: #61 of 503 in Quebec and #130 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.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 1.9 years ahead of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Lac-Mégantic’s region is above the line.
At 3.0 on the index, the trend across 102 regions (correlation −0.83) points to 81.0 years, and the region Lac-Mégantic belongs to reaches 82.9. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (9 of 10), with a median of 80.4. 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 18 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
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
This is the one part of the block measured for Lac-Mégantic 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.
56% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Quebec (56%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health reads like the rest of Quebec: 63% against 64%, and 20% under quite a bit of stress most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
From Lac-Mégantic, a hospital is 1.8 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Lac-Mégantic, weighted by who lives there.
Lac-Mégantic is closer in than the provincial norm of 5.3 km in Quebec, 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Lac-Mégantic is 12th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,819 to 6,059 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowertown West ON A+ | 5,947 | 0.4 km | 56% |
| 2 | Central Frederick ON A | 5,895 | 0.8 km | 53% |
| 3 | Boyle Street AB B+ | 5,862 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 10 | Amqui QC A | 6,059 | 1.6 km | 60% |
| 11 | Homesteader AB B+ | 6,059 | 1.7 km | 51% |
| 12 | Lac-Mégantic QC A+ | 5,947 | 1.8 km | 57% |
| 13 | Minto MB B+ | 5,830 | 2.0 km | 52% |
| 14 | University SK B+ | 5,888 | 2.1 km | 49% |
| 40 | Stettler County No. 6 AB C | 5,966 | 18 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Lac-Mégantic
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lac-Mégantic | 1.8 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Nantes 4.5 km | 4.7 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Frontenac 4.7 km | 7.7 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Lac-Drolet 18 km | 16 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Lac-Mégantic’s; read across for the hospital trip. Lac-Drolet is the furthest from care, 16 km to Lac-Mégantic’s 1.8 km.
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.
- 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.
- 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. Only the distances on this page belong to Lac-Mégantic alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Lac-Mégantic
How is Lac-Mégantic’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Lac-Mégantic’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Lac-Mégantic?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 14% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Lac-Mégantic?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Lac-Mégantic’s health region only: 84.8 years for women and 81.0 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Lac-Mégantic from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Lac-Mégantic live: 1.9 km to a clinic, 0.9 km to 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).