Health in Gold River · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
A hospital trip from Gold River means 64 km on average, in a straight line
In the health survey, 54% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. For everyday care, the nearest pharmacy is 1.1 km away on average (1.0 within 3 km). The Health grade for Gold River is B−.
British Columbia: 50% · Source area for very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy: the North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
15%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Born around Gold River, a child can expect 2.0 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 21.0 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Life expectancy under the deprivation trend
Set against regions as deprived (2.8), Gold River’s region loses years: 79.5 where the trend says 81.4. For its deprivation ↓
More households under strain
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Gold River at 4.1 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the top band. The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (24%) and diabetes (6.6%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Health Grade
Gold River 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.
Very good or excellent health (54%)Better than 58% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (15%)Better than 79% of Canadian towns
Smokers (9%)Better than 95% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (79.5)Better than 34% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (64 km)Better than 2% of Canadian towns
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 wider area
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 regions in British Columbia
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
79.5
years at birth, 2022/2024
21.0
more years expected at 65
11th
longest of 16 regions in British Columbia
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Richmond Health Service Delivery Area86.8
Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area84.4
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area84.3
Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area83.3
Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area83.2
South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area82.7
Okanagan Health Service Delivery Area81.0
East Kootenay Health Service Delivery Area80.5
Fraser East Health Service Delivery Area80.0
Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.8
Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area79.5
North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.5
Thompson/Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area78.8
Northwest Health Service Delivery Area77.0
Northeast Health Service Delivery Area76.9
Northern Interior Health Service Delivery Area76.6
This region is 11th 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
Residential instability3.1
Economic dependency4.7
Ethno-cultural composition1.3
Situational vulnerability4.1
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Gold River’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.
For its deprivation
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.9 years behind the trend
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Gold River’s region comes out below the trend.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 2.8, Gold River’s region’s 79.5 years sit under the line’s 81.4. It sits at the foot of the 10 regions closest to it on the index, which centre on 81.2 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.
Conditions and habits
24% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.6% diabetes
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
24%
Arthritis
26%
Diabetes
6.6%
Obese (self-reported)
29%
Mood disorder
16%
Anxiety disorder
14%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
8.8%
Smoke every day
7.2%
Heavy drinking
18%
British Columbia
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 29% of adults against 25% for British Columbia.
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.
Getting care
Pharmacies around Gold River: 1.0 within 3 km, the nearest 1.1 km away
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Gold River’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
64 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
62 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
1.1 km
residents’ average distance
1.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
100%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Gold River is on the far side.
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (50%)
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
51%
Health fair or poor
16%
Mental health very good or excellent
52%
Mental health fair or poor
17%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
68%
Satisfied with life
83%
British Columbia
Mental health beats British Columbia as well: 52% 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.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
•
Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
•
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.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Gold River itself is the trip to care.
•
Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
•
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.
Questions about health in Gold River
How far is Gold River from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Gold River live: 62 km to a clinic, 1.1 km to a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in Gold River?
Women in Gold River’s region live to 82.3 on average and men to 76.9, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Gold River’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Gold River’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Gold River?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 15%.
Photo: Andre Charland · CC BY 2.0