Photo: Kiyoteru Awaji · CC BY 4.0Lives run shorter around Clearwater: 78.8 years, 2.7 below the typical Canadian town’s region
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 48%, behind the 50% for British Columbia. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Clearwater live 2.6 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Health gives Clearwater a grade of C+, #212 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,142 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Clearwater
Fewer years than its deprivation would give
Regions scoring 3.1 on the deprivation index typically live 80.5 years; Clearwater’s region, at 78.8, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Harder circumstances
With a situational-vulnerability score of 4.2 out of 5, Clearwater sits in the index’s harder-pressed areas. The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Clearwater grades C+ 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: #212 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,142 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.7 years short of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Clearwater’s region is below the line.
Where residents average 3.1 on the index, regions tend to reach 80.5 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Clearwater belongs to trails at 78.8. It sits at the foot of the 10 regions closest to it on the index, which centre on 80.9 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
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 13th 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 Clearwater’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.
23% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 8.2% diabetes
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 33%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (22% 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.
From Clearwater, a hospital is 2.6 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Clearwater, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Clearwater are closer 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 47% to 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
Mental health beats British Columbia as well: 52% very good or excellent to 49%, with 23% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Clearwater is 17th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,500 to 2,587 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City Commercial Core ON A | 2,581 | 0.4 km | 53% |
| 2 | Rimbey AB C+ | 2,502 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 3 | Elmwood AB B+ | 2,522 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 15 | Roberval QC A | 2,536 | 2.4 km | 55% |
| 16 | Rosedale AB A+ | 2,507 | 2.4 km | 56% |
| 17 | Clearwater BC C+ | 2,500 | 2.6 km | 48% |
| 18 | Munroe West MB B+ | 2,532 | 2.6 km | 52% |
| 19 | Burrows-Keewatin MB B+ | 2,506 | 3.4 km | 52% |
| 40 | North Frontenac ON B− | 2,515 | 47 km | 53% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Clearwater
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearwater | 2.6 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
| Electoral Area A (Wells Gray Country), Thompson-Nicola 12 km | 18 km | 48% | 78.8 | C |
Only the hospital column is local here: Clearwater and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Residents of Electoral Area A (Wells Gray Country), Thompson-Nicola live further from a hospital, at 18 km against 2.6 km in Clearwater.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Clearwater shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Clearwater
How is Clearwater’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Clearwater has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Clearwater?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 81.8 for women, 76.0 for men around Clearwater (2022/2024).
How healthy is Clearwater?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 18% of adults.
How far is Clearwater from a hospital?
A clinic is 85 km from the average resident of Clearwater and a pharmacy 2.2 km, as the crow flies.
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).