Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainThe nearest hospital is 55 km from the average home in Elkford
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 57%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. Pharmacies are closer at hand, 31 km away on average and 0.0 of them within 3 km of a typical home. The Health grade for Elkford is B−, #205 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,086 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Elkford
Pharmacies far off
From the average home in Elkford, a pharmacy is 31 km away, a longer trip than most Canadians make for medicine. Getting care ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Born around Elkford, a child can expect 1.0 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 20.3 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
More people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 5.6 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (56% as answered). 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.
Elkford 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: #205 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,086 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.
Pharmacies around Elkford: 0.0 within 3 km, the nearest 31 km away
Straight-line distances from each part of Elkford, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Elkford travel further 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.
56% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in British Columbia (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 beats British Columbia as well: 56% very good or excellent to 49%, with 16% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
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 8th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Elkford itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.3 years of life
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Elkford’s lies below the line.
Deprivation accounts for much of the spread between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), but not for all of Elkford’s region’s: 80.5 years where the line expects 81.8 at 2.7. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 8 still live longer, with 81.4 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.
High blood pressure for 20% of adults in the region, diabetes for 7.2%
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
At 29%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (23% 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Elkford is 40th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,990 to 3,075 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tisdale SK C− | 3,052 | 0.7 km | 47% |
| 2 | Princeton BC B+ | 3,050 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 3 | Leslie Park - Bruce Farm ON A+ | 3,056 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 38 | Stanstead QC A− | 2,994 | 27 km | 57% |
| 39 | Markstay-Warren ON D | 2,990 | 32 km | 51% |
| 40 | Elkford BC B− | 3,030 | 55 km | 57% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
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. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Elkford shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Elkford
How far is Elkford from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Elkford live: 117 km to a clinic, 31 km to a pharmacy.
How healthy is Elkford?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Elkford?
There is no figure for Elkford alone; its health region’s is 82.7 for women and 78.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Elkford’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 Elkford’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
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).