Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0North Saanich scores better for health than 95% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 55%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. For North Saanich itself the measure is access, and it lags: 6.9 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. The Health grade for North Saanich is A, #52 of 254 in British Columbia and #290 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in North Saanich
A region that smokes less
Smoking is rarer around North Saanich than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.8% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Less chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 18% of adults, diabetes for 5.9%. Conditions and habits ↓
Easier circumstances
With a situational-vulnerability score of 1.1 out of 5, North Saanich sits in the index’s least pressed areas. The wider area ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
North Saanich’s 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.
North Saanich 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: #52 of 254 in British Columbia and #290 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%
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
Obesity tracks the province: 25% of adults here, 25% across British Columbia. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 22% to 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
Life expectancy in British Columbia runs from 76.6 to 86.8; this region sits 6th of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where North Saanich’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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.3 years of life
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; North Saanich’s dot is marked, under the line.
Deprivation accounts for much of the spread between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), but not for all of North Saanich’s region’s: 82.7 years where the line expects 84.0 at 2.1. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it trails the majority, 9 of 10; their median is 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.
The nearest hospital is 6.9 km from the average home in North Saanich
Straight-line distances from each part of North Saanich, weighted by who lives there.
From North Saanich that is further than the 4.4 km of the typical town in British Columbia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
More people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 54% to 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
Fewer adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across British Columbia (47% against 49%), while 25% call most days 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: North Saanich comes 33rd of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (12,773 to 13,230 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yonge-Bay Corridor ON A | 12,888 | 0.3 km | 50% |
| 2 | Regent Park ON A | 12,797 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Downtown AB B+ | 12,880 | 0.9 km | 51% |
| 31 | Aloha Estates BC A | 13,194 | 6.4 km | 50% |
| 32 | Forest ON C+ | 12,962 | 6.8 km | 49% |
| 33 | North Saanich BC A | 12,986 | 6.9 km | 55% |
| 34 | New Springbrook ON B+ | 12,804 | 6.9 km | 49% |
| 35 | Ayr ON A− | 13,051 | 9.1 km | 53% |
| 40 | Sainte-Julienne QC B | 12,990 | 21 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around North Saanich
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Saanich | 6.9 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| Sidney 2.4 km | 6.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| East Saanich 2 9.2 km | 1.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 9.5 km | 12 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Central Saanich 10 km | 3.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Cobble Hill 11 km | 14 km | 47% | 79.8 | C+ |
| Highlands 16 km | 8.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 79.8 against 82.7 here. Residents of Cobble Hill live further from a hospital, at 14 km against 6.9 km in North Saanich.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to North Saanich alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
Questions about health in North Saanich
How is North Saanich’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so North Saanich has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in North Saanich?
Women in North Saanich’s region live to 84.9 on average and men to 80.5, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is North Saanich?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How far is North Saanich from a hospital?
Residents of North Saanich have a clinic 4.0 km away on average and a pharmacy 3.9 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).