Photo: Miranda.Kopetzky · CC BY-SA 4.0North Vancouver scores better for health than almost every Canadian town
In the health survey, 59% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and North Vancouver is well placed: 1.1 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. The Health grade for North Vancouver is A+, #1 of 254 in British Columbia and #1 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in North Vancouver
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around North Vancouver is well below the typical town’s; 3.7% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
North Vancouver’s region sits 2.8 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.6 years ahead (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 ↓
More people feeling well
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 7.6 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 59%. Health survey ↓
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 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: #1 of 254 in British Columbia and #1 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
On weight the region is ordinary for British Columbia: 23% report obesity, the province 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.
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
The region comes 3rd of 16 in British Columbia, where life expectancy runs from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
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; North Vancouver’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.
59% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in 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 health beats British Columbia as well: 55% very good or excellent to 49%, with 22% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.4 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; North Vancouver’s region’s dot is under the line.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 1.7 would suggest 85.7 years, but North Vancouver’s region stops at 84.3. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 6 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.
From North Vancouver, a hospital is 1.1 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of North Vancouver, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of North Vancouver are closer 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: North Vancouver comes 1st of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (51,346 to 85,944 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Vancouver BC A+ | 66,624 | 1.1 km | 59% |
| 2 | Cornwall ON B− | 54,346 | 1.5 km | 49% |
| 3 | Whalley BC A | 52,642 | 1.8 km | 50% |
| 40 | Keswick ON B+ | 53,630 | 17 km | 51% |
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 | 1.1 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| North Vancouver 2.4 km | 3.6 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Capilano 5 4.4 km | 4.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Strathcona 4.8 km | 2.2 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Coal Harbour 5.1 km | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Grandview-Woodland 5.2 km | 2.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Yaletown 5.5 km | 1.1 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
Across a regional line, Strathcona has its own figures: life expectancy 83.3, against 84.3 here. Capilano 5 is the furthest from care, 4.5 km to North Vancouver’s 1.1 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to North Vancouver alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
Questions about health in North Vancouver
How is North Vancouver’s 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 North Vancouver’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is North Vancouver?
On every regional measure, the region does better than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 12%.
What is the life expectancy in North Vancouver?
Women in North Vancouver’s region live to 86.3 on average and men to 82.3, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How far is North Vancouver from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in North Vancouver live: 0.7 km to a clinic, 0.5 km to 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).