Photo: The Interior · CC BY-SA 4.0Lives run shorter around Blind Bay: 78.8 years, 2.7 below the typical Canadian town’s region
In the health survey, 48% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. Closer to home, a hospital is 19 km from the average resident of Blind Bay, further than the usual 3.7 km. The Health grade for Blind Bay is C, #226 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,330 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Blind Bay
Far from a hospital
Residents of Blind Bay live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (18 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Shorter lives than its deprivation predicts
For a deprivation score of 3.1, the trend across regions gives 80.5 years of life; Blind Bay’s region reaches only 78.8. For its deprivation ↓
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.
Blind Bay 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. Its place: #226 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,330 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
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.
Getting to hospital from Blind Bay: 19 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Blind Bay’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of Blind Bay travel further than most of the province: the typical town in British Columbia is 4.4 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
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.
The region lives 1.7 years less than its deprivation predicts
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Blind Bay’s region’s dot is under the line.
Set against 102 regions on the deprivation index (correlation −0.83), the region Blind Bay belongs to lives less long than its score of 3.1 predicts: 78.8 years, where the trend gives 80.5. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 80.9 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (8.2%)
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across British Columbia: 33%, the province 25%. At 22%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 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.
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 13th 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
The index is context and never graded: it describes Blind Bay’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
47% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in British Columbia (50%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health looks better than in the province too: 52% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 23% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Blind Bay is 39th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 9,828 to 10,129 people, median 3.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lac-des-Fées QC B+ | 10,075 | 0.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | South Cambie BC A+ | 9,846 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Vincent ON B | 10,011 | 1.1 km | 53% |
| 37 | Malahide ON C+ | 9,995 | 18 km | 49% |
| 38 | Hatchet Lake NS B− | 9,930 | 19 km | 51% |
| 39 | Blind Bay BC C | 9,984 | 19 km | 48% |
| 40 | Shediac NB C | 9,849 | 24 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Blind Bay
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Bay | 19 km | 48% | 78.8 | C |
| Electoral Area F, Columbia-Shuswap 11 km | 29 km | 48% | 78.8 | C− |
| Salmon Arm 19 km | 2.4 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
Every place around Blind Bay shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Residents of Salmon Arm live nearer a hospital, at 2.4 km against 19 km in Blind Bay.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Blind Bay shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
Questions about health in Blind Bay
How is Blind Bay’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Blind Bay has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Blind Bay from a hospital?
Residents of Blind Bay have a clinic 19 km away on average and a pharmacy 7.8 km away, in straight lines.
What is the life expectancy in Blind Bay?
There is no figure for Blind Bay alone; its health region’s is 81.8 for women and 76.0 for men in 2022/2024.
How healthy is Blind Bay?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 18%.
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).