Photo: Kiyoteru Awaji · CC BY 4.0Lives run shorter around Kamloops: 78.8 years, 2.7 below the typical Canadian town’s region
Across the region, 48% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole reaches 50%. What sets Kamloops apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 5.5 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Kamloops a grade of C+, #214 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,182 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Kamloops
Fewer years than its deprivation would give
Regions scoring 3.1 on the deprivation index typically live 80.5 years; Kamloops’ region, at 78.8, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Kamloops grades C+ 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: #214 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,182 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 1.7 years short of the trend
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Kamloops’ region shows under the trend.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 3.1 would suggest 80.5 years, but Kamloops’ region stops at 78.8. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 80.9 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 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.2%
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, 33%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 22% 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.
The nearest hospital is 5.5 km from the average home in Kamloops
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Kamloops’ own, not the region’s.
Kamloops is near the provincial norm, 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia, with the typical Canadian town at 3.7 km. The centre of population is 1.8 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 5.5 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.
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
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, 13th 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
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Kamloops’ 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.
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 47% 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 ahead of British Columbia, 52% very good or excellent to 49%; 23% 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Kamloops is 32nd nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 79,371 to 142,450 people, median 3.6 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria BC A+ | 103,888 | 1.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | New Westminster BC A | 92,124 | 1.8 km | 48% |
| 3 | Chomedey QC A | 81,813 | 1.8 km | 53% |
| 30 | Chilliwack BC B | 105,520 | 5.1 km | 47% |
| 31 | Delta BC A | 124,670 | 5.2 km | 50% |
| 32 | Kamloops BC C+ | 108,793 | 5.5 km | 48% |
| 33 | Pickering ON B | 118,378 | 6.1 km | 50% |
| 34 | Repentigny QC A− | 91,290 | 6.2 km | 56% |
| 40 | Lindsay ON C | 85,351 | 13 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Kamloops
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamloops | 5.5 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
| Kamloops 1 4.6 km | 5.0 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
One health region covers Kamloops and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same.
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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Kamloops alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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 Kamloops
What is the life expectancy in Kamloops?
For the health region that includes Kamloops, women can expect 81.8 years and men 76.0 (2022/2024).
How is Kamloops’ Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Kamloops’ homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Kamloops?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out behind the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 18% of adults.
How far is Kamloops from a hospital?
For everyday care, Kamloops’ residents are 2.5 km from a pharmacy and 5.0 km from a clinic on average.
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).