Photo: University of the Fraser Valley · CC BY 2.0Life expectancy around Chilliwack is 80.0 years, 1.5 less than for the typical Canadian town
Adults here are less upbeat about their health than the province: 47% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. What sets Chilliwack apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 5.1 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Chilliwack a grade of B, #169 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,900 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Chilliwack
Self-rated health runs low
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 4.3 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 48%. Health survey ↓
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.
Chilliwack 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: #169 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,900 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.
Self-rated health trails British Columbia: 48% 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 health is no outlier: 48% say very good or excellent (British Columbia: 49%) and 23% live with stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
1.5 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Chilliwack’s region shows under the trend.
Deprivation accounts for much of the spread between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), but not for all of Chilliwack’s region’s: 80.0 years where the line expects 81.5 at 2.8. It is outlived by 9 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 81.2 years. Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $88,000 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (8.9%)
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: 35%, the province 25%.
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 5.1 km from the average home in Chilliwack
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Chilliwack’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of Chilliwack travel about as far as 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.
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 9th 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 Chilliwack’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.
Among 40 towns its size, Chilliwack is 30th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 79,371 to 142,450 people, median 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria BC A+ | 103,888 | 1.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | New Westminster BC A | 92,124 | 1.8 km | 48% |
| 3 | Chomedey QC A | 81,813 | 1.8 km | 53% |
| 28 | Brossard QC A | 97,597 | 4.8 km | 55% |
| 29 | Bowmanville ON B | 114,180 | 4.9 km | 50% |
| 30 | Chilliwack BC B | 105,520 | 5.1 km | 47% |
| 31 | Delta BC A | 124,670 | 5.2 km | 50% |
| 32 | Kamloops BC C+ | 108,793 | 5.5 km | 48% |
| 40 | Lindsay ON C | 85,351 | 13 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Chilliwack
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilliwack | 5.1 km | 47% | 80.0 | B |
| Skowkale 1.3 km | 3.7 km | 47% | 80.0 | B |
| Tzeachten 13 3.0 km | 6.4 km | 47% | 80.0 | B |
| Electoral Area E, Fraser Valley 11 km | 12 km | 47% | 80.0 | B− |
| Cultus Lake 13 km | 13 km | 47% | 80.0 | B− |
| Electoral Area C, Fraser Valley 13 km | 10 km | 47% | 80.0 | B− |
| Rosedale 15 km | 15 km | 47% | 80.0 | B− |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Chilliwack from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Rosedale is the furthest from care, 15 km to Chilliwack’s 5.1 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Chilliwack shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
Questions about health in Chilliwack
How is Chilliwack’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Chilliwack: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Chilliwack?
Taken together the region leans less healthy than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 17%.
What is the life expectancy in Chilliwack?
For the health region that includes Chilliwack, women can expect 82.9 years and men 77.2 (2022/2024).
How far is Chilliwack from a hospital?
For everyday care, Chilliwack’s residents are 2.3 km from a pharmacy and 3.0 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).