For health, Lions Bay is ahead of 95% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 59% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole manages 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Lions Bay’s is long: 20 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Health gives Lions Bay a grade of A+.
What stands out about health in Lions Bay
A region that smokes less
Smoking is rarer around Lions Bay than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.7% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Lions Bay runs 2.8 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 22.6 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A long way to hospital
Distance is Lions Bay’s own health question: 0% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 20 km. Getting care ↓
A lighter load of illness
High blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Lions Bay 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.
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.
In the region, high blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%)
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, 23%, sits within a few points of British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 23% 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.
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
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 3rd 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
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Lions Bay’s bars are its residents’ average, shown and not graded.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 20 km from the average home in Lions Bay
Straight-line distances from each part of Lions Bay, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Lions Bay travel further than most of the province: the typical town in British Columbia is 4.4 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.4 years behind the trend
102 dots, 102 health regions: no town has its own life expectancy here, and Lions Bay’s region shows under the trend.
Set against 102 regions on the deprivation index (correlation −0.83), the region Lions Bay belongs to lives less long than its score of 1.7 predicts: 84.3 years, where the trend gives 85.7. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (6 of 10), with a median of 83.5.
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.
59% 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 better than in the province too: 55% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 22% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Health in the places around Lions Bay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lions Bay | 20 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Bowen Island 14 km | 15 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| West Vancouver 14 km | 7.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Capilano 5 17 km | 4.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area F, Sunshine Coast 18 km | 20 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
The neighbours all sit in Lions Bay’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Residents of Capilano 5 live nearer a hospital, at 4.5 km against 20 km in Lions Bay.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Lions Bay shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
Questions about health in Lions Bay
How far is Lions Bay from a hospital?
For everyday care, Lions Bay’s residents are 10 km from a pharmacy and 13 km from a clinic on average.
How healthy is Lions Bay?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. Chronic conditions there average 12% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Lions Bay?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Lions Bay’s health region only: 86.3 years for women and 82.3 for men (2022/2024).
How is Lions Bay’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Lions Bay has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
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).