Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainLives run shorter around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap: 78.8 years, 2.7 below the typical Canadian town’s region
In the health survey, 48% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. Closer to home, a hospital is 31 km from the average resident of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, and 65% live more than 30 km away. The Health grade for Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap is C−.
What stands out about health in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
Hospital care at a distance
Distance is Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s own health question: 65% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 34 km. Getting care ↓
Shorter lives than its deprivation predicts
At 78.8 years, Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s region trails the 80.5 that regions scoring 3.1 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
A long way to a pharmacy
From the average home in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, a pharmacy is 31 km away, a longer trip than most Canadians make for medicine. Getting care ↓
More households under strain
With a situational-vulnerability score of 4.3 out of 5, Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap sits in the index’s harder-pressed areas. The wider area ↓
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 E, Columbia-Shuswap 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.
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 31 km from the average home in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
Straight-line distances from each part of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap, weighted by who lives there.
From Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap 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.
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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.7 years behind the trend
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s dot is marked, under the line.
Set against 102 regions on the deprivation index (correlation −0.83), the region Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap belongs to lives less long than its score of 3.1 predicts: 78.8 years, where the trend gives 80.5. All 10 regions closest to it on the index live longer; their middle figure is 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.
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
This region is 13th longest-lived of 16 in British Columbia, on a scale from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
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 E, Columbia-Shuswap’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.
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (8.2%)
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 33% of adults against 25% for British Columbia. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 22% 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 47% to 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region is ahead of British Columbia, 52% 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.
Health in the places around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
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 E, Columbia-Shuswap | 31 km | 48% | 78.8 | C− |
| Sicamous 9.3 km | 25 km | 48% | 78.8 | C− |
Every place around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap
How far is Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap from a hospital?
Residents of Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap have a clinic 12 km away on average and a pharmacy 31 km away, in straight lines.
What is the life expectancy in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap?
Women in Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s region live to 81.8 on average and men to 76.0, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 18%.
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).