Halifax gets B grade, seventh place in Canadian health ranking report

Halifax came in seventh place out of 10 Canadian cities in a health ranking report released Tuesday.

The Conference Board of Canada’s maiden City Health Monitor report rated cities on several grouped indicators.

Health care service benchmarks, which include the number of specialists and hospital beds, earned an overall A grade.

Meanwhile, healthy lifestyle indicators, which include smoking and influenza immunizations, lead to an overall D grade.

READ MORE: Saskatoon, Calgary, Winnipeg top list in national health rankings: Conference Board of Canada

“There are no surprises in there, for me. We’re well aware of these issues, not just in Halifax but across the province,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health.

He said he was a bit surprised that, of the healthy lifestyle indicator group, physical activity was given an A grade, yet obesity was given a D grade.

“I think we need to look at, not at an individual level, but how we design our communities, how walkable they are, do we have access to green spaces, parks?” said Strang.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think we need to look at, not at an individual level, but how we design our communities, how walkable they are, do we have access to green spaces, parks?" said Strang.

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Chris Parsons, provincial coordinator of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, said that accessibility to healthy foods is one part of that issue.

“Obesity is not just connected to the choices that individuals make but, rather, that it’s the result of structural problems,” he added.

Halifax’s life satisfaction benchmarks scored an overall B grade. In that group, satisfaction with life in general and perceived mental health both got D grades.

“I think some of the poor mental health self-reports may well be related to people’s economic struggles, which we know are very real,” said Strang.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think some of the poor mental health self-reports may well be related to people's economic struggles, which we know are very real," said Strang.

Parsons said part of that issue has to due with access to high quality jobs.

READ MORE: ‘I’m not overly surprised’: Montreal ranks last in national health, lifestyle rankings

“It’s a question of having access to a real sense of community. It’s about access to things like social services that might not show up in terms of health services but do have an impact on people’s both physical and mental health,” he said.

Parsons added that he looks forward to see future reports by the same organization to see if things get better or worse.