Photo: Kiwibirdman · CC BY 3.0Few places match Highlands for health: it beats 94% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 55% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole manages 50%. What sets Highlands apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 8.0 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Highlands is A, #53 of 254 in British Columbia and #351 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Highlands
Fewer smokers
The age-standardised smoking rate around Highlands is well below the typical town’s; 3.8% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run low
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 18% report high blood pressure and 5.9% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Highlands’ region sits 1.2 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.9 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
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.
Highlands 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: #53 of 254 in British Columbia and #351 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
On weight the region is ordinary for British Columbia: 25% report obesity, the province 25%. At 22%, 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.
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
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
Ranked 6th of 16 in British Columbia: the regions span 76.6 to 86.8 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Highlands’ residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.3 years behind the trend
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Highlands’ region is below the line.
Set against 102 regions on the deprivation index (correlation −0.83), the region Highlands belongs to lives less long than its score of 2.1 predicts: 82.7 years, where the trend gives 84.0. Even beside regions as deprived, it lags: 9 of its 10 closest matches reach further, their median 83.5 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.
From Highlands, a hospital is 8.0 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Highlands, weighted by who lives there.
Highlands 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.
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
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 47% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 25% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Highlands comes 24th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,719 to 2,785 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 6.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterridge Village ON A+ | 2,737 | 0.6 km | 56% |
| 2 | Kuujjuaq QC | 2,766 | 0.7 km | – |
| 3 | Kameyosek AB B+ | 2,761 | 0.7 km | 51% |
| 22 | Country Hills Village AB A | 2,731 | 6.5 km | 56% |
| 23 | Sussex NB C− | 2,742 | 7.5 km | 43% |
| 24 | Highlands BC A | 2,753 | 8.0 km | 55% |
| 25 | Front of Yonge ON B− | 2,773 | 10 km | 51% |
| 26 | Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part ON C− | 2,770 | 13 km | 48% |
| 40 | Waskaganish QC | 2,726 | 132 km | – |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Highlands
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 8.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| Central Saanich 7.5 km | 3.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Langford 9.8 km | 6.3 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| View Royal 9.8 km | 1.4 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| East Saanich 2 11 km | 1.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| New Songhees 1A 12 km | 2.2 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 12 km | 12 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 79.8 against 82.7 here. Residents of View Royal live nearer a hospital, at 1.4 km against 8.0 km in Highlands.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Highlands’ own.
- 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 Highlands
How is Highlands’ Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Highlands’ own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Highlands?
For the health region that includes Highlands, women can expect 84.9 years and men 80.5 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Highlands?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 14%.
How far is Highlands from a hospital?
Residents of Highlands have a clinic 5.9 km away on average and a pharmacy 5.3 km away, in straight lines.
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).