Photo: simpleinsomnia · CC BY 2.0Melfort’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 4.5 years: life expectancy 77.0
Across the region, 47% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; Saskatchewan as a whole reaches 49%. For Melfort itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.0 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. The Health grade for Melfort is C−, #97 of 102 in Saskatchewan and #2,454 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Melfort
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Melfort is well above the typical town’s; 15% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 25% report high blood pressure and 17% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 4.8 points fewer adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (46% as answered). Health survey ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Measured from where people live, Melfort is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 1.0 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Melfort grades C− 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: #97 of 102 in Saskatchewan and #2,454 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 25% of adults in the region, diabetes for 17%
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
Self-reported obesity, 44%, tops Saskatchewan (40%).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Self-rated health trails Saskatchewan: 46% very good or excellent, against 50%
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
About as many adults report very good or excellent mental health as across Saskatchewan (50% against 50%), while 22% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 1.0 km from the average home in Melfort
Straight-line distances from each part of Melfort, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 2.2 km for the typical town in Saskatchewan and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Melfort 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.
On the trend for regions as deprived, just over it
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Melfort’s, follows the trend.
At 4.1 on the index, regions tend to reach 77.0 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions), and the one Melfort belongs to reaches 77.0. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do better (6 of 10), with a median of 78.7.
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.
How the 7 health regions in Saskatchewan compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Saskatchewan, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Ranked 5th of 7 in Saskatchewan: the regions span 70.0 to 81.4 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Melfort itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Melfort is 5th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,931 to 6,126 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowertown West ON A+ | 5,947 | 0.4 km | 56% |
| 2 | Pleasant Hill SK A− | 6,088 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 3 | Civic Hospital ON A+ | 6,091 | 0.5 km | 56% |
| 4 | Creston BC B+ | 5,976 | 0.9 km | 57% |
| 5 | Melfort SK C− | 6,028 | 1.0 km | 47% |
| 6 | Stettler AB C+ | 6,035 | 1.0 km | 52% |
| 7 | Alberta Avenue AB B+ | 6,097 | 1.3 km | 51% |
| 40 | Stettler County No. 6 AB C | 5,966 | 18 km | 52% |
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
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Melfort alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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.
Questions about health in Melfort
What is the life expectancy in Melfort?
For the health region that includes Melfort, women can expect 79.6 years and men 74.5 (2022/2024).
How is Melfort’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Melfort has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Melfort?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 21% of adults.
How far is Melfort from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Melfort is 30 km from a clinic and 0.9 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).