Photo: Hameltion · CC BY-SA 4.0Bowen Island scores better for health than 97% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 59% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. Closer to home, a hospital is 15 km from the average resident of Bowen Island, further than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Bowen Island a grade of A+, #27 of 254 in British Columbia and #120 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Bowen Island
Fewer smokers
Smoking is rarer around Bowen Island than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.7% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around Bowen Island 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 ↓
A long way to hospital
Distance is Bowen Island’s own health question: 0% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 14 km. Getting care ↓
Long-term conditions run low
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 16% report high blood pressure and 4% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Bowen Island 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.
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: #27 of 254 in British Columbia and #120 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.
High blood pressure for 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 4%
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
About as many adults report obesity as across British Columbia: 23%, the province 25%. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 23% to 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health regions in British Columbia
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
Life expectancy in British Columbia runs from 76.6 to 86.8; this region sits 3rd of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Bowen Island’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.
Getting to hospital from Bowen Island: 15 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Bowen Island’s own, not the region’s.
From Bowen Island that is further than the 4.4 km of the typical town in British Columbia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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 1.4 years less than its deprivation predicts
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Bowen Island’s region, below the line, stands for every town in it.
Where residents average 1.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 85.7 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Bowen Island belongs to trails at 84.3. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (6 of 10), with a median of 83.5.
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.
More people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 59% to 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: 55% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 22% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Bowen Island is 32nd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,422 to 4,585 people, median 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country Hills ON A | 4,561 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | Eastmount ON B+ | 4,496 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 3 | Golden BC B+ | 4,433 | 0.7 km | 57% |
| 30 | Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona BC B+ | 4,546 | 12 km | 54% |
| 31 | Howick ON B− | 4,517 | 15 km | 45% |
| 32 | Bowen Island BC A+ | 4,501 | 15 km | 59% |
| 33 | Warner County No. 5 AB C+ | 4,533 | 18 km | 52% |
| 34 | Saint-Anselme QC B+ | 4,534 | 19 km | 59% |
| 40 | Casselman ON C− | 4,535 | 32 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Bowen Island
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowen Island | 15 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast 12 km | 20 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Gibsons 12 km | 19 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| West Vancouver 13 km | 7.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Lions Bay 14 km | 20 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast 14 km | 17 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 15 km | 1.1 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
Not every neighbour shares the region: Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s life expectancy is 83.3, this region’s 84.3. Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver is the closest to care, 1.1 km to Bowen Island’s 15 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Bowen Island alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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 Bowen Island
How healthy is Bowen Island?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 12% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Bowen Island?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.3 for women, 82.3 for men around Bowen Island (2022/2024).
How is Bowen Island’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Bowen Island: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Bowen Island from a hospital?
For everyday care, Bowen Island’s residents are 2.9 km from a pharmacy and 8.6 km from a clinic on average.
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).