Photo: The original uploader was IDuke at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 2.5Esquimalt scores better for health than 98% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 55%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. What sets Esquimalt apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 2.0 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Esquimalt is A+, #25 of 254 in British Columbia and #99 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Esquimalt
Smoking runs low
Smoking is rarer around Esquimalt than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.8% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A lighter load of illness
High blood pressure (18%) and diabetes (5.9%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around Esquimalt, a child can expect 1.2 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.9 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Pharmacies close at hand
The average resident of Esquimalt can reach 11 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.6 km off. Getting care ↓
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.
Esquimalt grades A+ 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: #25 of 254 in British Columbia and #99 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.
High blood pressure for 18% of adults in the region, diabetes for 5.9%
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
About as many adults report obesity as across British Columbia: 25%, the province 25%. 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.
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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 6th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Esquimalt’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 2.0 km from the average home in Esquimalt
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Esquimalt’s own, not the region’s.
From Esquimalt that is nearer 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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.3 years of life
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Esquimalt’s dot is marked, under the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.1, the expected figure is 84.0 years, and Esquimalt’s region falls below with 82.7. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 9 still live longer, with 83.5 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.
54% 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
On mental health the region is behind British Columbia, 47% very good or excellent to 49%; 25% 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Esquimalt is 18th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 19,050 to 19,986 people, median 2.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Granville Entertainment District BC A+ | 19,125 | 0.5 km | 50% |
| 2 | North End NS B+ | 19,733 | 0.7 km | 51% |
| 3 | Central London ON A− | 19,363 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 16 | Stony Plain AB B+ | 19,662 | 1.9 km | 51% |
| 17 | Overbrook ON A+ | 19,953 | 1.9 km | 56% |
| 18 | Esquimalt BC A+ | 19,512 | 2.0 km | 55% |
| 19 | Vinegar Hill ON A | 19,543 | 2.1 km | 51% |
| 20 | Port Alberni BC B− | 19,671 | 2.2 km | 47% |
| 40 | Mont-Saint-Hilaire QC A− | 19,447 | 19 km | 55% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Esquimalt
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esquimalt | 2.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| New Songhees 1A 1.9 km | 2.2 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Victoria 3.9 km | 1.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| View Royal 4.0 km | 1.4 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Saanich 5.5 km | 2.7 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Colwood 6.3 km | 6.3 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Oak Bay 7.0 km | 1.4 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
Every place around Esquimalt shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Residents of Colwood live further from a hospital, at 6.3 km against 2.0 km in Esquimalt.
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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Esquimalt alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
Questions about health in Esquimalt
How is Esquimalt’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Esquimalt: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Esquimalt?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Esquimalt’s health region only: 84.9 years for women and 80.5 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Esquimalt?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How far is Esquimalt from a hospital?
A clinic is 0.9 km from the average resident of Esquimalt and a pharmacy 0.6 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).