Cochrane Five Year Strategic Plan | Page 15

Town of Cochrane Strategic Plan – Final Report October 2014 4.1.3 Birth and Mortality Rates Note that statistics broken out for the Town of Cochrane are not currently available. Statistics Canada provides such data at the provincial and national levels. The Porcupine Health Unit6 collects data for the Cochrane District. The crude birth rate7 in the Porcupine Health Unit’s catchment area was 10.3 in 20018 (most recent published statistic available for comparison), slightly lower than the provincial rate of 11 that same year. Ontario’s fertility rate9 was 1.53 in 2010, while the accepted population replacement level is 2.1 children per woman.10 Cochrane-specific fertility rates are not available, but it is reasonable to assume that they too are below the replacement level. Note however, that there is a relatively large population of Aboriginal people in the Porcupine Health Unit area, and as a group, they tend to have fertility rates approximately 1.5 times higher than non-Aboriginal women. In 2009, the teen pregnancy rate in Porcupine Health Unit’s region was 64.2 per 1000 girls, the highest of any Health Unit area in the province and more than twice the provincial average (28.6 per 1000). 11 Teenage pregnancies are often correlated with greater rates of poverty, higher unemployment and lower housing value. Ontario has one of the highest levels of life expectancy in both Canada and among the countries of the developed world. A newborn female in Ontario can expect to live 83.4 years and a newborn male 79.0 years (2007 data).12 The life expectancy for the Porcupine Health Unit region at age 65 reveals lower than the provincial average life expectancy. Men at age 65 can expect to live an additional 15 years, lower than the provincial figure of 17.2 years. Females at age 65 can expect to live an additional 18.6 years, also lower than the provincial figure of 20.4 years.13 6 The Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) serves communities in the Cochrane District, a geographic area of more than 1000 square kilometers, including six remote first nations communities on the James Bay coast. As resources permit, the PHU attempts to track health-related progress indicators at the local level, but these reports may not be as current as provincial statistics. 7 Total live births divided by the total population of the area multiplied by 100. Porcupine Health Unit. (2006). Community Check-Up: A PHU Status Report. Available at http://www.porcupinehu.on.ca/Reports/documents/CommunityCheckUp.pdf 9 Statistics Canada. (2013). Birth and Fertility Rates. Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sumsom/l01/cst01/hlth85b-eng.htm 10 Ontario Ministry of Finance. (2013). Ontario Population Projections Update – Fertility. Available at: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/economy/demographics/projections/#s4c 11 Hamilton Spectator (2011). BORN: A Code Red Project. Available at: www.sogc.org/journalismawards/BORN2.pdf 12 Ontario Ministry of Finance. (2013). Ontario Population Projections Update. Available at: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/economy/demographics/projections/#s4d 13 Porcupine Health Unit. (2006). Community Check-Up: A PHU Status Report. Available at: http://www.porcupinehu.on.ca/Reports/documents/CommunityCheckUp.pdf 8 13