Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Orford beats 92% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 57% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Quebec’s 57%. What sets Orford apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 9.2 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Orford is A, #145 of 503 in Quebec and #442 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Orford
Longer lives than its deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 3.0 on the deprivation index typically live 81.0 years; Orford’s region, at 82.9, does better. For its deprivation ↓
Long-term conditions run low
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
Orford’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 ↓
Upbeat about their health
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 ↓
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.
Orford 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: #145 of 503 in Quebec and #442 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 region lives 1.9 years longer than its deprivation predicts
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Orford’s region comes out above the trend.
The trend over 102 regions (correlation −0.83) is clear, and Orford’s region sits above it: 82.9 years where a score of 3.0 predicts 81.0. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (9 of 10, 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.
High blood pressure for 19% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.1%
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
At 29%, self-reported obesity is near Quebec’s 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.
Life expectancy across the 18 health regions in Quebec
Regional life expectancy in Quebec, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
This region is 3rd longest-lived of 18 in Quebec, on a scale from 65.2 to 84.1 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Orford’s own areas.
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%)
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
For 20% of adults most days are quite a bit stressful, and 63% rate their mental health very good or excellent, near Quebec’s 64%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Orford: 9.2 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Orford’s own, not the region’s.
Orford 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Orford is 29th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 5,610 to 5,795 people, median 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meadow Lake SK C | 5,667 | 0.6 km | 46% |
| 2 | Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire QC A+ | 5,764 | 0.7 km | 62% |
| 3 | Montcalm MB B+ | 5,676 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 27 | Emerald Woods - Sawmill Creek ON A | 5,714 | 5.1 km | 56% |
| 28 | Carp ON A | 5,621 | 7.2 km | 56% |
| 29 | Orford QC A | 5,698 | 9.2 km | 57% |
| 30 | Annapolis County, Subdivision C NS D | 5,694 | 13 km | 44% |
| 31 | Lanoraie QC B+ | 5,694 | 14 km | 56% |
| 40 | Chertsey QC B | 5,678 | 30 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Orford
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orford | 9.2 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Magog 7.8 km | 2.6 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Eastman 8.3 km | 14 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Austin 9.8 km | 10 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 14 km | 7.3 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Denis-de-Brompton 15 km | 14 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Racine 15 km | 25 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
Orford and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t. Residents of Racine live further from a hospital, at 25 km against 9.2 km in Orford.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Orford itself is the trip to care.
Questions about health in Orford
How healthy is Orford?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 14%.
What is the life expectancy in Orford?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Orford’s health region only: 84.8 years for women and 81.0 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Orford from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Orford live: 8.3 km to a clinic, 6.5 km to a pharmacy.
How is Orford’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Orford has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
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).