Photo: Pierre-Paul Drouin · Public domainFew places match Val-des-Sources for health: it beats 98% 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 just 1.1 km from the average resident of Val-des-Sources, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Val-des-Sources grades A+ for health, #51 of 503 in Quebec and #79 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Val-des-Sources
Outliving the trend for its deprivation
At 82.9 years, Val-des-Sources’ region outlives the 81.0 that regions scoring 3.0 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Long-term conditions run low
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 ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Val-des-Sources’ 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.
Val-des-Sources 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: #51 of 503 in Quebec and #79 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.
1.9 more years of life than regions as deprived
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Val-des-Sources’ region’s dot is above the line.
Across Canada’s 102 health regions, life expectancy falls as deprivation rises (correlation −0.83). For a region whose residents average 3.0 on the index, the line expects 81.0 years; Val-des-Sources’ region reaches 82.9. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (9 of 10, median 80.4 years). Households here earn around $67,000, less than in most regions, but the region still outlives most; across regions income barely tracks life expectancy (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.
19% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 9.1% diabetes
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
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.
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
Among the 18 regions in Quebec, from 65.2 to 84.1 years, this one is 3rd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Val-des-Sources’ residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
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
The region’s 63% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of Quebec’s 64%, with 20% reporting stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 1.1 km from the average home in Val-des-Sources
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Val-des-Sources’ own, not the region’s.
Compared with 5.3 km for the typical town in Quebec and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Val-des-Sources is on the near side.
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, Val-des-Sources is 5th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 7,183 to 7,437 people, median 3.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Currie Barracks AB A+ | 7,342 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 2 | Coronation Park SK B+ | 7,307 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 3 | Cathedral Village SK B+ | 7,311 | 0.9 km | 49% |
| 4 | Slave Lake AB C− | 7,334 | 1.0 km | 48% |
| 5 | Val-des-Sources QC A+ | 7,303 | 1.1 km | 57% |
| 6 | Bonnyville AB C− | 7,366 | 1.1 km | 48% |
| 7 | La Sarre QC B | 7,199 | 1.2 km | 57% |
| 40 | Trent Lakes ON C− | 7,357 | 30 km | 47% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Val-des-Sources
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-des-Sources | 1.1 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Danville 4.9 km | 6.2 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Saint-Georges-de-Windsor 8.3 km | 10 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Wotton 9.2 km | 9.6 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Tingwick 11 km | 11 km | 61% | 81.6 | A− |
| Kingsey Falls 14 km | 15 km | 61% | 81.6 | B+ |
| Cleveland 18 km | 18 km | 57% | 82.9 | A− |
Not every neighbour shares the region: Tingwick’s life expectancy is 81.6, this region’s 82.9. Residents of Cleveland live further from a hospital, at 18 km against 1.1 km in Val-des-Sources.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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 Val-des-Sources’ own.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
Questions about health in Val-des-Sources
How healthy is Val-des-Sources?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Chronic conditions there average 14% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How is Val-des-Sources’ 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 Val-des-Sources’ homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Val-des-Sources?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.8 for women, 81.0 for men around Val-des-Sources (2022/2024).
How far is Val-des-Sources from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Val-des-Sources is 1.2 km from a clinic and 6.7 km from 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).