Photo: Doug Hay derivative work: MrPanyGoff · CC BY 2.0Duncan’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 1.7 years: life expectancy 79.8
Adults here are less upbeat about their health than the province: 47% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.7 km from the average resident of Duncan, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Duncan a grade of B, #170 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,924 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Duncan
Below the trend for its deprivation
Regions scoring 2.8 on the deprivation index typically live 81.7 years; Duncan’s region, at 79.8, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Self-rated health runs low
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 5.1 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 44%. Health survey ↓
More households under strain
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Duncan’s neighbourhoods average 4.2 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. 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.
Duncan 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: #170 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,924 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 region lives 1.9 years less than its deprivation predicts
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Duncan’s dot is marked, under the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.8, the expected figure is 81.7 years, and Duncan’s region falls below with 79.8. Against the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, all live longer; the middle of the group is 81.3 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 44% 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
Mental health trails British Columbia: 46% very good or excellent to 49%, with 22% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
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
The region comes 10th of 16 in British Columbia, where life expectancy runs from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Duncan’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.
In the region, high blood pressure (23%) and diabetes (6.9%)
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: 32%, the province 25%. At 22%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 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 Duncan, a hospital is 1.7 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Duncan, weighted by who lives there.
Duncan is closer in than the provincial norm of 4.4 km in British Columbia, and than the typical Canadian town at 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Duncan is 8th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,663 to 5,835 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meadow Lake SK C | 5,667 | 0.6 km | 46% |
| 2 | Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire QC A+ | 5,764 | 0.7 km | 62% |
| 3 | Montcalm MB B+ | 5,676 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 6 | St. Matthews MB B+ | 5,699 | 1.3 km | 52% |
| 7 | Parkview AB B+ | 5,729 | 1.6 km | 51% |
| 8 | Duncan BC B | 5,745 | 1.7 km | 47% |
| 9 | Forest Hill ON A | 5,760 | 1.7 km | 53% |
| 10 | Remington Park ON B+ | 5,783 | 1.7 km | 52% |
| 40 | Electoral Area B, Peace River BC D | 5,814 | 47 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Duncan
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan | 1.7 km | 47% | 79.8 | B |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley 1.5 km | 5.3 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Cowichan 1.5 km | 3.5 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| North Cowichan 3.6 km | 3.6 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Cowichan Bay 7.8 km | 9.8 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Cobble Hill 13 km | 14 km | 47% | 79.8 | C+ |
| Shawnigan 15 km | 15 km | 47% | 79.8 | C+ |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Duncan’s regional figures. Shawnigan is the furthest from care, 15 km to Duncan’s 1.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Duncan shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- 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.
Questions about health in Duncan
How is Duncan’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Duncan’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Duncan?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures trail the typical Canadian town than beat it. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Duncan?
There is no figure for Duncan alone; its health region’s is 82.6 for women and 77.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Duncan from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Duncan is 0.7 km from a clinic and 0.8 km from a pharmacy.
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).