Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Life expectancy around Val-d'Or is 79.5 years, 2.0 less than for the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 57% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Quebec (57%). The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Val-d'Or live 4.0 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Health gives Val-d'Or a grade of B, #476 of 503 in Quebec and #1,851 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Val-d'Or
More smokers
Around Val-d'Or, 14% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 5.7 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 56%. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Val-d'Or grades B 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: #476 of 503 in Quebec and #1,851 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.
High blood pressure for 21% of adults in the region, diabetes for 9.8%
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
More adults report obesity than across Quebec: 37%, the province 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.
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 wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 65% very good or excellent against 64% for Quebec; stress is a daily matter for 18%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
On the trend for regions as deprived, just over it
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Val-d'Or’s region comes out on the trend.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 3.5 about 79.0 years; Val-d'Or’s region’s 79.5 is within a year of it. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 8 of 10; their median is 78.7 years.
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.
The nearest hospital is 4.0 km from the average home in Val-d'Or
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Val-d'Or’s own, not the region’s.
That is close to the 5.3 km of the typical town in Quebec (the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km), as Val-d'Or goes. The centre of population is 1.2 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 4.0 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.
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
Of the 18 health regions in Quebec, 14th 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
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Val-d'Or’s 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.
Val-d'Or is 29th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 30,981 to 35,858 people, median 3.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centretown ON A+ | 32,035 | 0.5 km | 56% |
| 2 | Sainte-Marie QC A | 33,699 | 0.7 km | 54% |
| 3 | Fairview BC A+ | 33,969 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 27 | Langley BC A | 35,444 | 3.6 km | 50% |
| 28 | North Cowichan BC B− | 34,525 | 3.6 km | 47% |
| 29 | Val-d'Or QC B | 33,353 | 4.0 km | 57% |
| 30 | Whitehorse YT B− | 34,129 | 4.5 km | 55% |
| 31 | Saint-Constant QC A | 32,124 | 4.6 km | 55% |
| 40 | Parkland County AB B− | 34,286 | 15 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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-d'Or’s own.
Questions about health in Val-d'Or
How healthy is Val-d'Or?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How is Val-d'Or’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Val-d'Or: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Val-d'Or?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Val-d'Or’s health region only: 81.6 years for women and 77.6 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Val-d'Or from a hospital?
A clinic is 3.3 km from the average resident of Val-d'Or and a pharmacy 3.4 km, as the crow flies.
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).