Photo: Vxceprex · CC BY-SA 3.0Grand Forks scores better for health than 87% of Canadian towns
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 55% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Grand Forks is well placed: 1.2 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Grand Forks a grade of A, #115 of 254 in British Columbia and #857 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Grand Forks
A region where lives run shorter
Born around Grand Forks, a child can expect 2.0 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 19.9 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (19%) and diabetes (5.5%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Near a hospital
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Grand Forks; from its centre of population the trip is 0.7 km. 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.
Grand Forks 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: #115 of 254 in British Columbia and #857 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
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
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 11th place goes to this one, between a low of 76.6 and a high of 86.8.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Grand Forks’ own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
High blood pressure for 19% of adults in the region, diabetes for 5.5%
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
Self-reported obesity, 28%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 28% to the province’s 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.
Getting to hospital from Grand Forks: 1.2 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Grand Forks’ own, not the region’s.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Grand Forks is on the near side.
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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.4 years short of the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Grand Forks’ region is below the line.
Use the deprivation index alone and Grand Forks’ region, at 3.0, should live about 80.9 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 79.5. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do better (8 of 10), with a median of 80.3.
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.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 53% very good or excellent, against 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Asked about their mental health, 48% of adults here said very good or excellent; across British Columbia it was 49%, and 22% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Grand Forks comes 7th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,237 to 4,380 people, median 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown SK B+ | 4,282 | 0.4 km | 49% |
| 2 | Beaupré QC A+ | 4,314 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 3 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 5 | Spence MB B+ | 4,378 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 6 | Central Park MB B+ | 4,328 | 1.1 km | 52% |
| 7 | Grand Forks BC A | 4,308 | 1.2 km | 55% |
| 8 | Patricia Heights AB B+ | 4,355 | 1.3 km | 51% |
| 9 | Deep River ON C+ | 4,353 | 1.8 km | 50% |
| 40 | Eganville ON C− | 4,326 | 32 km | 50% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Grand Forks
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Forks | 1.2 km | 55% | 79.5 | A |
| Electoral Area D (Rural Grand Forks), Kootenay Boundary 2.7 km | 5.6 km | 55% | 79.5 | A− |
| Electoral Area C (Christina Lake), Kootenay Boundary 18 km | 19 km | 55% | 79.5 | B+ |
Same region, same survey: Grand Forks’ neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital. Electoral Area C (Christina Lake), Kootenay Boundary is the furthest from care, 19 km to Grand Forks’ 1.2 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Grand Forks alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
Questions about health in Grand Forks
What is the life expectancy in Grand Forks?
Women in Grand Forks’ region live to 82.8 on average and men to 76.5, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Grand Forks?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How far is Grand Forks from a hospital?
For everyday care, Grand Forks’ residents are 1.4 km from a pharmacy and 96 km from a clinic on average.
How is Grand Forks’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Grand Forks’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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).