Photo: Murray Foubister · CC BY-SA 2.0Very good or excellent health for 57% of adults around Golden; the typical Canadian town: 52%
Across the region, life runs to 80.5 years on average: women 82.7, men 78.1, in 2022/2024. Measured from where Golden’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 0.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. Health gives Golden a grade of B+, #134 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,184 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Golden
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Golden runs 1.0 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 20.3 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A hospital close by
Measured from where people live, Golden is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 0.2 km away. 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.
Golden 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: #134 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,184 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.
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 8th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Golden 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.
Getting to hospital from Golden: 0.7 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Golden, weighted by who lives there.
From Golden 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
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Golden’s region is below the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 2.7, the expected figure is 81.8 years, and Golden’s region falls below with 80.5. It is outlived by 8 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 81.4 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.
High blood pressure for 20% of adults in the region, diabetes for 7.2%
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across British Columbia: 29%, the province 25%. At 23%, 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.
More people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 56% to 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
Mental health looks better than in the province too: 56% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 16% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Golden is 2nd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,353 to 4,525 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastmount ON B+ | 4,496 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 2 | Golden BC B+ | 4,433 | 0.7 km | 57% |
| 3 | Centennial MB B+ | 4,483 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 4 | Roslyn MB B+ | 4,411 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 40 | Sparwood BC B− | 4,486 | 28 km | 57% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Golden
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden | 0.7 km | 57% | 80.5 | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap 4.5 km | 17 km | 57% | 80.5 | B− |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Golden’s regional figures. Electoral Area A, Columbia-Shuswap is the furthest from care, 17 km to Golden’s 0.7 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Golden itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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 Golden
How is Golden’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Golden: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Golden?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 16%.
What is the life expectancy in Golden?
There is no figure for Golden alone; its health region’s is 82.7 for women and 78.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Golden from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Golden is 150 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).