Photo: Voldeg and Bolton · Public domain20% of adults smoke in the health region around Melville, against 12% for the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 49% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in Saskatchewan (49%). The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Melville is well placed: 1.5 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Melville grades C− for health, #92 of 102 in Saskatchewan and #2,394 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Melville
A region where lives run shorter
Melville’s region sits 2.9 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 20.0 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Life expectancy under the deprivation trend
Set against regions as deprived (3.0), Melville’s region loses years: 78.6 where the trend says 80.8. For its deprivation ↓
Long-term conditions run high
High blood pressure (32%) and diabetes (10%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Melville; from its centre of population the trip is 1.2 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Melville 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: #92 of 102 in Saskatchewan and #2,394 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.
Life expectancy across the 7 health regions in Saskatchewan
Regional life expectancy in Saskatchewan, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
The region comes 4th of 7 in Saskatchewan, where life expectancy runs from 70.0 to 81.4 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Melville’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 2.2 years short of the trend
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Melville’s dot is marked, under the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Melville’s region, at 3.0, should live about 80.8 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 78.6. All 10 regions closest to it on the index live longer; their middle figure is 80.3 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.
High blood pressure for 32% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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
More adults report obesity than across Saskatchewan: 47%, the province 40%. At 23%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 20%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
From Melville, a hospital is 1.5 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Melville’s own, not the region’s.
Nothing unusual for Melville here: the typical town in Saskatchewan is 2.2 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 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.
Self-rated health much as in Saskatchewan: 48% to 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
On mental health the region is ahead of Saskatchewan, 54% very good or excellent to 50%; 18% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Melville is 7th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,465 to 4,627 people, median 4.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country Hills ON A | 4,561 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | Eastmount ON B+ | 4,496 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 3 | Centennial MB B+ | 4,483 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 5 | Jasper AB C− | 4,627 | 1.0 km | 48% |
| 6 | Blue Quill AB B+ | 4,567 | 1.2 km | 51% |
| 7 | Melville SK C− | 4,547 | 1.5 km | 49% |
| 8 | Fairfield Park MB B+ | 4,578 | 1.5 km | 52% |
| 9 | Red Hill ON B | 4,540 | 1.8 km | 53% |
| 40 | Casselman ON C− | 4,535 | 32 km | 49% |
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
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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 Melville’s own.
- 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.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Melville
What is the life expectancy in Melville?
Women in Melville’s region live to 80.8 on average and men to 76.5, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Melville’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Melville has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Melville?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Chronic conditions there average 20% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Melville from a hospital?
For everyday care, Melville’s residents are 0.9 km from a pharmacy and 1.6 km from a clinic on average.
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).