Photo: busand2003 · CC BY 3.0Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer around Melbourne (14% against 17% for the typical Canadian town)
In the health survey, 57% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Quebec’s 57%. For Melbourne itself the measure is access, and it lags: 26 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Melbourne grades A− for health.
What stands out about health in Melbourne
Hospital care at a distance
For 0% of homes in Melbourne the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 23 km. Getting care ↓
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
For a deprivation score of 3.0, the trend across regions gives 81.0 years of life; Melbourne’s region reaches 82.9. For its deprivation ↓
A long-lived region
Melbourne’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 ↓
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.
Melbourne 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.
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 Melbourne, a hospital is 26 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Melbourne, weighted by who lives there.
Melbourne is further out 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.
1.9 more years of life than regions as deprived
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Melbourne’s region, above the line, stands for every town in it.
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Melbourne’s region beats it: 82.9 years against the 81.0 the trend gives a score of 3.0. 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.
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
Life expectancy in Quebec runs from 65.2 to 84.1; this region sits 3rd of the 18.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Melbourne’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.
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.
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
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.
Health in the places around Melbourne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 26 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Richmond 2.7 km | 21 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Cleveland 5.3 km | 18 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Durham-Sud 12 km | 27 km | 61% | 81.6 | B+ |
| Windsor 14 km | 17 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton 14 km | 17 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Félix-de-Kingsey 17 km | 21 km | 61% | 81.6 | B+ |
Across a regional line, Durham-Sud has its own figures: life expectancy 81.6, against 82.9 here.
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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Melbourne’s own.
Questions about health in Melbourne
How far is Melbourne from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Melbourne live: 5.2 km to a clinic, 5.1 km to a pharmacy.
How healthy is Melbourne?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 14%.
What is the life expectancy in Melbourne?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Melbourne’s health region only: 84.8 years for women and 81.0 for men (2022/2024).
How is Melbourne’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Melbourne’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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).