Photo: Pierre Bona · CC BY-SA 3.0Few places match Shefford for health: it beats 92% of Canadian towns
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Quebec, 57% against 57%. Closer to home, a hospital is 10 km from the average resident of Shefford, further than the usual 3.7 km. Shefford grades A for health, #174 of 503 in Quebec and #483 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Shefford
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
At 82.9 years, Shefford’s region outlives the 81.0 that regions scoring 3.0 on the index typically reach. 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 ↓
A long way to hospital
Residents of Shefford live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (9.1 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Shefford’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 ↓
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.
Shefford 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: #174 of 503 in Quebec and #483 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-lived than its deprivation suggests, by 1.9 years
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Shefford’s region’s dot is above the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Shefford’s region, at 3.0, should live about 81.0 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 82.9. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 9 of 10; their median is 80.4 years. Its towns’ household income, about $67,000, sits below most regions’ while its life expectancy sits above; across regions it is the deprivation index, not income, that follows lives (income’s correlation: 0.14).
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%
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 is close to the province’s level, 29% of adults against 29% for 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.
The nearest hospital is 10 km from the average home in Shefford
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Shefford’s own, not the region’s.
Shefford 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.
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
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
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Shefford’s own areas.
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
Mental health is close to the province’s: 63% rate it very good or excellent, against 64% in Quebec, and 20% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Shefford is 31st of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 7,570 to 7,846 people, median 3.9 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landsdale ON B+ | 7,681 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | University ON A | 7,595 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Central St. Boniface MB B+ | 7,772 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 29 | Valley Ridge AB A | 7,782 | 8.2 km | 56% |
| 30 | Chesley ON C+ | 7,639 | 9.5 km | 48% |
| 31 | Shefford QC A | 7,704 | 10 km | 57% |
| 32 | Electoral Area A, Nanaimo BC B− | 7,825 | 11 km | 47% |
| 33 | Brazeau County AB C | 7,685 | 11 km | 52% |
| 40 | Donnacona QC A | 7,785 | 24 km | 62% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Shefford
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shefford | 10 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Bromont 7.3 km | 11 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Waterloo 8.3 km | 17 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Granby 9.7 km | 2.6 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Roxton Pond 12 km | 8.2 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford 12 km | 15 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby 13 km | 11 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
Shefford and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t. Granby is the closest to care, 2.6 km to Shefford’s 10 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Shefford’s own.
- 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.
Questions about health in Shefford
How healthy is Shefford?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How is Shefford’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 Shefford’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Shefford?
There is no figure for Shefford alone; its health region’s is 84.8 for women and 81.0 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Shefford from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Shefford live: 4.0 km to a clinic, 4.4 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).