Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 2.0 years: life expectancy 79.5
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 55% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. What sets Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay apart within its region is distance: 25 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 33% of residents. The Health grade for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is B, #159 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,752 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay
Far from a hospital
Residents of Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (23 km from its centre of population), and 33% are more than 30 km away. 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: 19% report high blood pressure and 5.5% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay grades B 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: #159 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,752 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.
The nearest hospital is 25 km from the average home in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay 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.
19% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 5.5% diabetes
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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 28% of adults against 25% for British Columbia. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 28% 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.
The region lives 1.4 years less than its deprivation predicts
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s, lies beneath the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s region, at 3.0, should live about 80.9 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 79.5. It is outlived by 8 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 80.3 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.
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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 11th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 53% very good or excellent, against 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 wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 48% very good or excellent against 49% for British Columbia; stress is a daily matter for 22%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay comes 36th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 2,722 to 2,796 people, median 6.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterridge Village ON A+ | 2,737 | 0.6 km | 56% |
| 2 | Kuujjuaq QC | 2,766 | 0.7 km | – |
| 3 | Kameyosek AB B+ | 2,761 | 0.7 km | 51% |
| 34 | Vars ON A− | 2,767 | 23 km | 56% |
| 35 | Electoral Area E, Peace River BC C− | 2,737 | 23 km | 43% |
| 36 | Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay BC B | 2,758 | 25 km | 55% |
| 37 | Holyrood NL D− | 2,749 | 31 km | 44% |
| 38 | Division No. 8, Subdivision L NL D | 2,724 | 34 km | 54% |
| 40 | Waskaganish QC | 2,726 | 132 km | – |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay | 25 km | 55% | 79.5 | B |
| Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay 12 km | 25 km | 55% | 79.5 | B |
| Castlegar 13 km | 21 km | 55% | 79.5 | B |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s regional figures.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s own.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay
How far is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay is 24 km from a clinic and 9.7 km from a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s health region only: 82.8 years for women and 76.5 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 14%.
How is Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay’s own distance to care, 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).