Photo: KenWalker · CC BY-SA 4.0Fairwinds’ region trails the typical Canadian town by 1.7 years: life expectancy 79.8
In the health survey, 47% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Fairwinds’ is long: 11 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Fairwinds a grade of B−, #201 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,065 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Fairwinds
Fewer years than its deprivation would give
Regions scoring 2.8 on the deprivation index typically live 81.7 years; Fairwinds’ region, at 79.8, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Far from a hospital
Residents of Fairwinds live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (12 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Fewer people feeling well
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 ↓
Easier circumstances
With a situational-vulnerability score of 1.4 out of 5, Fairwinds sits in the index’s least pressed areas. The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Fairwinds 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: #201 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,065 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 1.9 years short of the trend
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Fairwinds’ region sits below the trend line through 102 regions.
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 2.8 about 81.7 years of life. Fairwinds’ region falls short of it, at 79.8. Each of the 10 regions scored most like it does better, with a median of 81.3.
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.
From Fairwinds, a hospital is 11 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Fairwinds’ own, not the region’s.
Fairwinds is further out 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.
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
On mental health the region is behind British Columbia, 46% very good or excellent to 49%; 22% 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health regions in British Columbia
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 10th.
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 Fairwinds’ 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.
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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 32% 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.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Fairwinds comes 32nd of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 6,984 to 7,273 people, median 4.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raleigh ON B | 7,113 | 0.9 km | 53% |
| 2 | Inglewood AB B+ | 7,167 | 1.1 km | 51% |
| 3 | La Sarre QC B | 7,199 | 1.2 km | 57% |
| 30 | Erin Woods AB A | 7,245 | 6.3 km | 56% |
| 31 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay BC B | 7,006 | 10 km | 57% |
| 32 | Fairwinds BC B− | 7,125 | 11 km | 47% |
| 33 | Les Cèdres QC A− | 7,145 | 11 km | 55% |
| 34 | Saint-Honoré QC A | 6,984 | 11 km | 66% |
| 40 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part ON D− | 7,008 | 25 km | 46% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Fairwinds
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairwinds | 11 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Lantzville 7.6 km | 11 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Parksville 12 km | 1.7 km | 47% | 79.8 | B |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo 15 km | 5.4 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Electoral Area C, Nanaimo 15 km | 8.2 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Nanaimo 17 km | 4.2 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
Only the hospital column is local here: Fairwinds and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Parksville is the closest to care, 1.7 km to Fairwinds’ 11 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Fairwinds alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Fairwinds
How is Fairwinds’ Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Fairwinds has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Fairwinds?
The region does worse than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Fairwinds?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Fairwinds’ health region only: 82.6 years for women and 77.1 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Fairwinds from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Fairwinds is 11 km from a clinic and 3.1 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).