Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainExpect 79.5 years of life in the region around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, 2.0 under the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 55% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole manages 50%. What sets Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay apart within its region is distance: 24 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 45% of residents. Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay grades B for health.
What stands out about health in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
A long way to hospital
Distance is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s own health question: 45% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 10 km. Getting care ↓
A long way to a pharmacy
The nearest pharmacy on OpenStreetMap is 78 km from the average home in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, so prescriptions mean a drive. Getting care ↓
A lighter load of illness
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 K, 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.
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 24 km from the average home in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Straight-line distances from each part of Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay, weighted by who lives there.
From Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay 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. The centre of population is 10 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 24 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (5.5%)
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
At 28%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (28% against 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.4 years short of the trend
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s region comes out below the trend.
Set against 102 regions on the deprivation index (correlation −0.83), the region Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay belongs to lives less long than its score of 3.0 predicts: 79.5 years, where the trend gives 80.9. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 8 still live longer, with 80.3 years in the middle.
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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 regions in British Columbia
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 11th of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
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%
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
The region’s 48% in very good or excellent mental health is within reach of British Columbia’s 49%, with 22% reporting stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Health in the places around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay | 24 km | 55% | 79.5 | B |
| Nakusp 11 km | 0.8 km | 55% | 79.5 | A |
Every place around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Nakusp is the closest to care, 0.8 km to Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s 24 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- 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 K, Central Kootenay’s own.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
Questions about health in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay
How far is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay from a hospital?
For everyday care, Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s residents are 78 km from a pharmacy and 81 km from a clinic on average.
What is the life expectancy in Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 82.8 for women, 76.5 for men around Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay (2022/2024).
How healthy is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How is Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Electoral Area K, Central Kootenay’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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).