Photo: Xicotencatl · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places match North Vancouver for health: it beats almost every Canadian town
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 59% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. What sets North Vancouver apart within its region is distance, and at 3.6 km to a hospital it is ordinary (3.7 km typical). Health gives North Vancouver a grade of A+, #3 of 254 in British Columbia and #19 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in North Vancouver
Fewer smokers
Around North Vancouver, only 3.7% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Born around North Vancouver, a child can expect 2.8 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 22.6 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Upbeat about their health
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 7.6 points over the typical Canadian town’s, and 59% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
North Vancouver 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: #3 of 254 in British Columbia and #19 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 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 4%
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, 23%, sits within a few points of British Columbia (25%). Heavy drinking runs above the province, 23% 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health regions in British Columbia
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
This region is 3rd longest-lived of 16 in British Columbia, on a scale from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes North Vancouver’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
More people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 59% 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
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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.4 years of life
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, North Vancouver’s, lies beneath the trend.
Use the deprivation index alone and North Vancouver’s region, at 1.7, should live about 85.7 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), but it reaches only 84.3. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean shorter-lived: 6 of them below it, 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.
The nearest hospital is 3.6 km from the average home in North Vancouver
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is North Vancouver’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of North Vancouver travel about as far as 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.
Among 40 towns its size, North Vancouver is 20th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 74,621 to 126,872 people, median 3.7 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% |
| 18 | Red Deer AB C+ | 115,409 | 3.5 km | 52% |
| 19 | Sault Ste. Marie ON C− | 81,182 | 3.6 km | 46% |
| 20 | North Vancouver BC A+ | 97,845 | 3.6 km | 59% |
| 21 | Lethbridge AB B− | 113,671 | 3.8 km | 52% |
| 22 | Fredericton NB C | 74,655 | 4.0 km | 45% |
| 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 North Vancouver
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 Vancouver | 3.6 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| North Vancouver 2.4 km | 1.1 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Burrard Inlet 3 5.4 km | 3.3 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Heights 6.4 km | 1.9 km | 48% | 84.4 | A |
| Capilano 5 6.5 km | 4.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Hastings-Sunrise 6.6 km | 2.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Grandview-Woodland 6.8 km | 2.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
Heights falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 84.4 against 84.3 here.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- 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. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are North Vancouver’s own.
- 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. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
Questions about health in North Vancouver
How healthy is North Vancouver?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 12% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in North Vancouver?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.3 for women, 82.3 for men around North Vancouver (2022/2024).
How is North Vancouver’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus North Vancouver’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is North Vancouver from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in North Vancouver is 1.8 km from a clinic and 1.2 km from a pharmacy.
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).