Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0Waterville scores better for health than 91% of Canadian towns
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across Quebec, 57% against 57%. Measured from where Waterville’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 11 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Waterville grades A for health, #211 of 503 in Quebec and #557 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Waterville
Ahead of regions as deprived
Deprivation alone, a score of 3.0, would put Waterville’s region near 81.0 years; it reaches 82.9. For its deprivation ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (9.1%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care at a distance
For 0% of homes in Waterville the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 9.9 km. Getting care ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around Waterville runs 1.4 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 21.2 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Waterville 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: #211 of 503 in Quebec and #557 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.
A region that outlives its deprivation by 1.9 years
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Waterville’s region sits above the trend line through 102 regions.
Use the deprivation index alone and Waterville’s region, at 3.0, should live about 81.0 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 82.9. 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (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
On weight the region is ordinary for Quebec: 29% report obesity, 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.
Getting to hospital from Waterville: 11 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Waterville, weighted by who lives there.
From Waterville that is further than the 5.3 km of the typical town in Quebec, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Quebec, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
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
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Waterville’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
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%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Neither ahead nor behind Quebec on mental health (63% to 64%), the region has 20% of adults stressed most days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Waterville comes 26th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,601 to 2,685 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 7.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hanna AB B− | 2,665 | 0.5 km | 52% |
| 2 | Berwick NS C− | 2,631 | 0.9 km | 44% |
| 3 | Outlook SK B+ | 2,629 | 0.9 km | 54% |
| 24 | Saint-Mathieu QC A | 2,642 | 8.5 km | 55% |
| 25 | Bouctouche NB C+ | 2,678 | 11 km | 43% |
| 26 | Waterville QC A | 2,643 | 11 km | 57% |
| 27 | Spaniard's Bay NL D− | 2,664 | 12 km | 44% |
| 28 | Kinburn ON A | 2,639 | 13 km | 56% |
| 40 | Tumbler Ridge BC D | 2,663 | 75 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Waterville
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 11 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Hatley 3.0 km | 9.8 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Compton 7.5 km | 11 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Sherbrooke 11 km | 3.7 km | 57% | 82.9 | A+ |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 12 km | 7.3 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Ascot Corner 18 km | 6.1 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
| Ayer's Cliff 19 km | 13 km | 57% | 82.9 | A |
Only the hospital column is local here: Waterville and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Sherbrooke is the closest to care, 3.7 km to Waterville’s 11 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Waterville alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
Questions about health in Waterville
How healthy is Waterville?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 14% of adults.
How far is Waterville from a hospital?
For everyday care, Waterville’s residents are 2.2 km from a pharmacy and 6.5 km from a clinic on average.
What is the life expectancy in Waterville?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.8 for women, 81.0 for men around Waterville (2022/2024).
How is Waterville’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Waterville’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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).