Photo: Dan Huntington from Anacortes, WA · CC BY-SA 2.0Port Hardy’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 2.0 years: life expectancy 79.5
In the health survey, 54% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. For Port Hardy itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.9 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Health gives Port Hardy a grade of A−, #127 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,011 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Port Hardy
Shorter lives than its deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 2.8 on the deprivation index typically live 81.4 years; Port Hardy’s region, at 79.5, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Harder circumstances
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Port Hardy’s neighbourhoods average 4.7 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. The wider area ↓
Less chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 24% of adults, diabetes for 6.6%. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Port Hardy 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: #127 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,011 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.
The region lives 1.9 years less than its deprivation predicts
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Port Hardy’s region comes out below the trend.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 2.8 would suggest 81.4 years, but Port Hardy’s region stops at 79.5. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 81.2 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (24%) and diabetes (6.6%)
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
At 29%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%.
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
Life expectancy in British Columbia runs from 76.6 to 86.8; this region sits 11th of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Port Hardy’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 1.9 km from the average home in Port Hardy
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Port Hardy’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of Port Hardy 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.
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to 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 beats British Columbia as well: 52% 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.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Port Hardy comes 8th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 4,144 to 4,261 people, median 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claresholm AB A+ | 4,242 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 2 | La Pocatière QC A | 4,206 | 0.9 km | 60% |
| 3 | Sunalta AB A+ | 4,151 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 6 | Vermilion AB C+ | 4,192 | 1.5 km | 52% |
| 7 | Malmo Plains AB B+ | 4,150 | 1.5 km | 51% |
| 8 | Port Hardy BC A− | 4,201 | 1.9 km | 54% |
| 9 | Banff Trail AB A+ | 4,175 | 1.9 km | 56% |
| 10 | Ormstown QC A | 4,259 | 2.2 km | 55% |
| 40 | Napierville QC A− | 4,187 | 19 km | 55% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- 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. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Port Hardy alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Port Hardy
How is Port Hardy’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 Port Hardy’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Port Hardy?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 82.3 for women, 76.9 for men around Port Hardy (2022/2024).
How healthy is Port Hardy?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Port Hardy from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Port Hardy is 41 km from a clinic and 1.8 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).