Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd · CC0Health in New Westminster beats 90% of Canadian towns
About as many adults call their health very good or excellent here as across British Columbia, 48% against 50%. For New Westminster itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.8 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. The Health grade for New Westminster is A, #80 of 254 in British Columbia and #630 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in New Westminster
A long-lived region
Born around New Westminster, a child can expect 2.9 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 22.6 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Smoking runs low
Smoking is rarer around New Westminster than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 5.7% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of New Westminster can reach 19 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 0.5 km off. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
New Westminster 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: #80 of 254 in British Columbia and #630 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health 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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 2nd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where New Westminster’s 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.
19% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 7.1% diabetes
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
Self-reported obesity, 19%, trails British Columbia (25%). Fewer adults drink heavily, 16% 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.
From New Westminster, a hospital is 1.8 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of New Westminster, weighted by who lives there.
New Westminster is closer in 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.
Life expectancy close to where deprivation puts it, a shade under
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); New Westminster’s region is near the line.
Deprivation explains most of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), and New Westminster’s region is a typical case: 84.4 years at a score of 2.0, where the trend says 84.5. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores fall short of it (8 of 10, median 83.3 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.
49% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (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 wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 51% very good or excellent against 49% for British Columbia; stress is a daily matter for 23%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
New Westminster is 2nd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (68,714 to 123,521 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 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% |
| 4 | Saint-Jérôme QC A+ | 85,160 | 2.1 km | 60% |
| 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 New Westminster
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Westminster | 1.8 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
| East Burnaby 2.3 km | 1.7 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
| Edmonds 2.9 km | 3.4 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
| Bridgeview 3.7 km | 2.9 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Buckingham Heights 4.0 km | 3.9 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
| Brownsville 4.6 km | 3.0 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Royal Oak 4.7 km | 4.1 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
Across a regional line, Bridgeview has its own figures: life expectancy 83.2, against 84.4 here.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for New Westminster itself is the trip to care.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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 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.
Questions about health in New Westminster
What is the life expectancy in New Westminster?
There is no figure for New Westminster alone; its health region’s is 86.6 for women and 82.1 for men in 2022/2024.
How healthy is New Westminster?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 15% of adults.
How far is New Westminster from a hospital?
For everyday care, New Westminster’s residents are 0.5 km from a pharmacy and 1.0 km from a clinic on average.
How is New Westminster’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and New Westminster’s 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).