Photo: Canadian2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wakaw’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 4.5 years: life expectancy 77.0
In the health survey, 47% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than Saskatchewan’s 49%. What sets Wakaw apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 0.3 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Wakaw grades C− for health.
What stands out about health in Wakaw
Smoking runs high
Smoking is commoner around Wakaw than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 15% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run high
High blood pressure (25%) and diabetes (17%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
No pharmacy close by
Picking up a prescription in Wakaw takes a trip of 62 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. Getting care ↓
Self-rated health runs low
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 ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Wakaw 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.
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
More adults report obesity than across Saskatchewan: 44%, the province 40%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
From Wakaw, a hospital is 0.3 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Wakaw’s own, not the region’s.
From Wakaw that is nearer than the 2.2 km of the typical town in Saskatchewan, 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in Saskatchewan: 46% 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
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.
Barely ahead of regions as deprived
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Wakaw’s region’s dot is close to the line.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 4.1 about 77.0 years; Wakaw’s region’s 77.0 is within a year of it. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 6 of them above it, 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
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 5th 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
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Wakaw’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health in the places around Wakaw
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakaw | 0.3 km | 47% | 77.0 | C− |
| St. Louis No. 431 15 km | 21 km | 47% | 77.0 | D− |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Wakaw from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. St. Louis No. 431 is the furthest from care, 21 km to Wakaw’s 0.3 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Wakaw shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
Questions about health in Wakaw
What is the life expectancy in Wakaw?
There is no figure for Wakaw alone; its health region’s is 79.6 for women and 74.5 for men in 2022/2024.
How healthy is Wakaw?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 21%.
How is Wakaw’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Wakaw’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Wakaw from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Wakaw live: 38 km to a clinic, 62 km to 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).