Photo: Steven.Pigeon · Public domainFor health, Oka is ahead of 90% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 60%, ahead of the 57% for Quebec. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Oka’s is long: 15 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Oka a grade of A, #229 of 503 in Quebec and #611 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Oka
More people feeling well
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 8.0 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 58%. Health survey ↓
A long way to hospital
Residents of Oka live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (14 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (8.1%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Oka 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: #229 of 503 in Quebec and #611 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.
Self-rated health much as in Quebec: 58% to 56%
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
On mental health the region tracks Quebec, 66% 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.
The nearest hospital is 15 km from the average home in Oka
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Oka’s own, not the region’s.
Oka 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.
High blood pressure for 19% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.1%
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
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.
Longer lives than deprivation would give: 1.0 years ahead of the trend
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Oka’s, lies over the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Oka’s region, at 2.9, should live about 81.2 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 82.2. Among the 10 regions scored most like it, it comes first; their median is 80.9 years. The towns here bring in about $81,000 a household, below the typical region, while living longer than it; that is why income, which correlates at just 0.14 with life expectancy across regions, isn’t the measure.
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
Regional life expectancy in Quebec, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 18 health regions in Quebec, 7th place goes to this one, between a low of 65.2 and a high of 84.1.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Oka’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Among 40 towns its size, Oka is 30th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,242 to 4,388 people, median 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown SK B+ | 4,282 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Beaupré QC A+ | 4,314 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 28 | Victoria County, Subdivision B NS C− | 4,258 | 11 km | 49% |
| 29 | Lantzville BC B− | 4,276 | 11 km | 47% |
| 30 | Oka QC A | 4,312 | 15 km | 60% |
| 31 | East Angus QC A | 4,261 | 16 km | 57% |
| 32 | Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay BC B+ | 4,309 | 17 km | 55% |
| 40 | Eganville ON C− | 4,326 | 32 km | 50% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Oka
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oka | 15 km | 60% | 82.2 | A |
| Kanesatake 3.7 km | 16 km | 60% | 82.2 | A |
| Saint-Joseph-du-Lac 6.7 km | 6.4 km | 60% | 82.2 | A+ |
| Hudson 6.8 km | 21 km | 55% | 82.5 | B+ |
| Pointe-Calumet 7.2 km | 7.8 km | 60% | 82.2 | A |
| Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac 7.6 km | 16 km | 55% | 82.5 | A− |
| Vaudreuil-Dorion 9.8 km | 17 km | 55% | 82.5 | A− |
Hudson falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 82.5 against 82.2 here. Residents of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac live nearer a hospital, at 6.4 km against 15 km in Oka.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Oka shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
Questions about health in Oka
How healthy is Oka?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 13%.
How far is Oka from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Oka live: 9.4 km to a clinic, 2.2 km to a pharmacy.
How is Oka’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Oka has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Oka?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 83.7 for women, 80.8 for men around Oka (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).