Health Regions: Boundaries and Correspondence with Census Geography
Health regions and peer groups
"Health region" refers to administrative areas defined by the provincial ministries of health. For complete Canadian coverage, each of the northern territories also represents a health region.
See Table 6 Health regions in Canada - by province and territory
See Map 14 Health Regions and Peer Groups in Canada, 2015
Health region boundary changes
- In Quebec, there was a reassignment of 32 Census subdivisions from Région de la Montérégie to Région de l’Estrie.
- In Alberta, there was a reassignment of 44 dissemination blocks.
For more detailed information, see Appendix 4A Detailed list of 2015 changes in Quebec and Appendix 4B Detailed list of 2015 changes in Alberta.
The boundaries, health region codes and health region names in the remaining provinces and territories have not changed.
See the following tables for history of changes since 2000:
- Table 7-g Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2014 and 2015
- Table 7-f Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2013 and 2014
- Table 7-e Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2011 and 2013
- Table 7-d Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2007 and 2011
- Table 7-c Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2005 and 2007
- Table 7-b Summary of changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2003 and 2005
- Table 7-a Summary of Changes to health region codes, names and boundaries, 2000 and 2003
Health region peer groups
In order to effectively compare health regions with similar socio–economic characteristics, health regions have been grouped into 'peer groups'. Statistics Canada used a statistical method to achieve maximum statistical differentiation between health regions. Twenty–four variables were chosen to cover as many of the social and economic determinants of health as possible, using data collected at the health region level mostly from the Census of Canada. Concepts covered include:
- basic demographics (for example, population change and demographic structure),
- living conditions (for example, socio-economic characteristics, housing, and income inequality), and
- working conditions (for example, labour market conditions).
Peer groups based on 2015 health region boundaries and 2011 Census of Population and 2011 National Household Survey data are available. There are currently nine peer groups identified by letters A through I. There have been no changes made to peer group assignments since 2014.
See Table 8 Health regions 2015 by peer group
See Table 9 Summary table of peer groups and principal characteristics
A more detailed discussion on the rationale and methods involved in the development of peer groups is available in Health Region (2014) Peer Groups – Working paper.
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