Few places match Montecito for health: it beats 90% of Canadian towns
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across British Columbia, 48% against 50%. Measured from where Montecito’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 2.2 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Montecito is A, #86 of 254 in British Columbia and #680 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Montecito
A long-lived region
Montecito’s region sits 2.9 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.6 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around Montecito is well below the typical town’s; 5.7% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
A typical home in Montecito has 5.6 pharmacies within 3 km, the nearest 0.7 km away. Getting care ↓
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.
Montecito 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: #86 of 254 in British Columbia and #680 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
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.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Life expectancy in British Columbia runs from 76.6 to 86.8; this region sits 2nd of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Montecito’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.
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (7.1%)
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
Fewer adults report obesity than across British Columbia: 19%, the province 25%. At 16%, heavy drinking trails 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.
Getting to hospital from Montecito: 2.2 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Montecito, weighted by who lives there.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Montecito is on the near side.
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.
Deprivation all but predicts the region’s life expectancy, which falls just short of the trend
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Montecito’s region sits on the trend line through 102 regions.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and Montecito’s region fits it, 84.4 years at 2.0 against the line’s 84.5. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (8 of 10, median 83.3 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.
49% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (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
On mental health the region tracks British Columbia, 51% very good or excellent to 49%; 23% 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Montecito comes 13th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,463 to 10,998 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Sacrement QC A+ | 10,650 | 0.4 km | 62% |
| 2 | Weston-Pelham Park ON A | 10,680 | 0.6 km | 50% |
| 3 | Bendale South ON A | 10,885 | 0.9 km | 50% |
| 11 | Westminster ON A− | 10,794 | 2.0 km | 52% |
| 12 | Rosemont/Mount Royal SK B+ | 10,497 | 2.0 km | 49% |
| 13 | Montecito BC A | 10,734 | 2.2 km | 48% |
| 14 | Dutrisac QC A | 10,643 | 2.6 km | 54% |
| 15 | Grand River South ON A | 10,723 | 2.7 km | 53% |
| 40 | Yellowhead County AB D− | 10,966 | 27 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Montecito
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
Same region, same survey: Montecito’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Montecito’s own.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
Questions about health in Montecito
What is the life expectancy in Montecito?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.6 for women, 82.1 for men around Montecito (2022/2024).
How healthy is Montecito?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 15%.
How far is Montecito from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Montecito live: 1.6 km to a clinic, 0.7 km to a pharmacy.
How is Montecito’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Montecito 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).