Health in Bella Bella 1 · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
For health, Bella Bella 1 is ahead of almost every Canadian town
In the health survey, 59% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 0.6 km from the average resident of Bella Bella 1, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. As a First Nations reserve, Bella Bella 1 can be graded for health but gets no overall grade and no place in ranked lists. People on reserves are outside the survey’s sample: the figures here are the surrounding region’s, and don’t describe Bella Bella 1 itself. Health gives Bella Bella 1 a grade of A+.
British Columbia: 50% · Area-wide: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy, counted over the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
12%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Around Bella Bella 1, only 3.7% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Bella Bella 1 runs 2.8 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 22.6 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
More people feeling well
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.6 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 59% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
Bella Bella 1 grades A+ for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (59%)Better than 87% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (12%)Better than almost every Canadian town
Smokers (6.5%)Better than almost every Canadian town
Life expectancy (84.3)Better than almost every Canadian town
Distance to a hospital (0.6 km)Better than 98% of Canadian towns
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.
Conditions and habits
High blood pressure for 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 4%
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
16%
Arthritis
20%
Diabetes
4%
Obese (self-reported)
23%
Mood disorder
15%
Anxiety disorder
12%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
6.5%
Smoke every day
3.7%
Heavy drinking
23%
British Columbia
Self-reported obesity, 23%, sits within a few points of British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 23% to the province’s 19%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
The wider area
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in British Columbia, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
84.3
years at birth, 2022/2024
22.6
more years expected at 65
3rd
longest of 16 regions in British Columbia
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Richmond Health Service Delivery Area86.8
Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area84.4
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area84.3
Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area83.3
Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area83.2
South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area82.7
Okanagan Health Service Delivery Area81.0
East Kootenay Health Service Delivery Area80.5
Fraser East Health Service Delivery Area80.0
Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.8
Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area79.5
North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.5
Thompson/Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area78.8
Northwest Health Service Delivery Area77.0
Northeast Health Service Delivery Area76.9
Northern Interior Health Service Delivery Area76.6
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 3rd place goes to this one, between a low of 76.6 and a high of 86.8.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.0
Economic dependency3.0
Ethno-cultural composition2.0
Situational vulnerability5.0
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Bella Bella 1’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health survey
More people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 59% 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
Health very good or excellent
59%
Health fair or poor
14%
Mental health very good or excellent
55%
Mental health fair or poor
16%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
69%
Satisfied with life
85%
British Columbia
On mental health the region is ahead of British Columbia, 55% very good or excellent to 49%; 22% 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.
For its deprivation
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.4 years behind the trend
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Bella Bella 1’s dot is marked, under the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 1.7, Bella Bella 1’s region’s 84.3 years sit under the line’s 85.7. It outlives 6 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 83.5 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.
Getting care
The nearest hospital is 0.6 km from the average home in Bella Bella 1
Straight-line distances from each part of Bella Bella 1, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
0.6 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
0.6 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
167 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Bella Bella 1 is on the near side.
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.
•
Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Bella Bella 1 shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
•
Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
•
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.
•
Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
Questions about health in Bella Bella 1
How healthy is Bella Bella 1?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 12% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Bella Bella 1?
Women in Bella Bella 1’s region live to 86.3 on average and men to 82.3, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is Bella Bella 1 from a hospital?
For everyday care, Bella Bella 1’s residents are 167 km from a pharmacy and 0.6 km from a clinic on average.
How is Bella Bella 1’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Bella Bella 1’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town. As a First Nations reserve it gets no overall grade, and the survey doesn’t interview people on reserves, so the regional figures don’t describe it.
Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0