Photo: George Dean · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako trails 93% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 42% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. What sets Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 13 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako a grade of D, #252 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,538 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako
A region where lives run shorter
Life expectancy in the region around Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako runs 4.5 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.3 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Less upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 9.8 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 42%. Health survey ↓
A heavier load of illness
For its ages, the region carries more long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 22% of adults, diabetes for 10%. Conditions and habits ↓
Far from a hospital
For 0% of homes in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 3.8 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako grades D 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: #252 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,538 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.
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
Ranked 14th of 16 in British Columbia: the regions span 76.6 to 86.8 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako’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.
42% 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 trails British Columbia: 44% very good or excellent to 49%, with 22% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
High blood pressure for 22% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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: 45%, the province 25%. At 26%, 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.
The nearest hospital is 13 km from the average home in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako is on the far side. The centre of population is 3.8 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 13 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.
Just under the trend for regions as deprived
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako’s lies near the line.
The line through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a score of 3.9 about 77.6 years; Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako’s region’s 77.0 is within a year of it. It is outlived by 8 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 78.7 years. Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $92,000 a household, above most regions’, with a life expectancy below most; income and lifespan correlate at only 0.14 across regions.
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.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako comes 35th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 5,724 to 5,943 people, median 2.9 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire QC A+ | 5,764 | 0.7 km | 62% |
| 2 | Central Frederick ON A | 5,895 | 0.8 km | 53% |
| 3 | Boyle Street AB B+ | 5,862 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 33 | Sainte-Martine QC A | 5,884 | 11 km | 55% |
| 34 | Verchères QC A− | 5,819 | 13 km | 55% |
| 35 | Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako BC D | 5,829 | 13 km | 42% |
| 36 | East Ferris ON C− | 5,835 | 15 km | 47% |
| 37 | Mile 108 Recreational Ranch BC C | 5,887 | 15 km | 48% |
| 40 | Electoral Area B, Peace River BC D | 5,814 | 47 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
One health region covers Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same. Residents of Smithers live nearer a hospital, at 1.0 km against 13 km in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako
What is the life expectancy in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako?
For the health region that includes Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako, women can expect 79.2 years and men 75.0 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 21% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako is 217 km from a clinic and 13 km from a pharmacy.
How is Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
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).