Health in Port McNeill · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
People in Port McNeill’s health region live to 79.5 on average, 2.0 years short of the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 54% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. What sets Port McNeill apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 0.8 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Port McNeill a grade of A−.
British Columbia: 50% · The very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy numbers here cover the North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
15%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
At 79.5 years, Port McNeill’s region trails the 81.4 that regions scoring 2.8 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
More households under strain
On the index’s situational vulnerability, which follows housing, income and education, Port McNeill’s neighbourhoods average 4.2 out of 5, among the most deprived fifth of the country. The wider area ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (24%) and diabetes (6.6%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
Port McNeill 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.
Very good or excellent health (54%)Better than 58% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (15%)Better than 79% of Canadian towns
Smokers (9%)Better than 95% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (79.5)Better than 34% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (0.8 km)Better than 96% of Canadian towns
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.
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.
For its deprivation
The region lives 1.9 years less than its deprivation predicts
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Port McNeill’s region, below the line, stands for every town in it.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 2.8, Port McNeill’s region’s 79.5 years sit under the line’s 81.4. It trails all 10 of its nearest neighbours on the index, whose median is 81.2.
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.
Conditions and habits
24% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.6% diabetes
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
24%
Arthritis
26%
Diabetes
6.6%
Obese (self-reported)
29%
Mood disorder
16%
Anxiety disorder
14%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
8.8%
Smoke every day
7.2%
Heavy drinking
18%
British Columbia
Self-reported obesity, 29%, tops British Columbia (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.
The wider area
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
79.5
years at birth, 2022/2024
21.0
more years expected at 65
11th
longest of 16 regions in British Columbia
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Richmond Health Service Delivery Area86.8
Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area84.4
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area84.3
Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area83.3
Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area83.2
South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area82.7
Okanagan Health Service Delivery Area81.0
East Kootenay Health Service Delivery Area80.5
Fraser East Health Service Delivery Area80.0
Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.8
Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area79.5
North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.5
Thompson/Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area78.8
Northwest Health Service Delivery Area77.0
Northeast Health Service Delivery Area76.9
Northern Interior Health Service Delivery Area76.6
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 11th place goes to this one, between a low of 76.6 and a high of 86.8.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability2.9
Economic dependency2.6
Ethno-cultural composition1.7
Situational vulnerability4.2
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Port McNeill’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Getting care
Getting to hospital from Port McNeill: 0.8 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Port McNeill’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
0.8 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
9.3 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
1.1 km
residents’ average distance
1.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Residents of Port McNeill 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.
Self-rated health much as in British Columbia: 51% 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
Health very good or excellent
51%
Health fair or poor
16%
Mental health very good or excellent
52%
Mental health fair or poor
17%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
68%
Satisfied with life
83%
British Columbia
On mental health the region is ahead of British Columbia, 52% very good or excellent to 49%; 22% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
How to read these numbers
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. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
•
Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
•
What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
•
Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Port McNeill shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
•
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.
Questions about health in Port McNeill
What is the life expectancy in Port McNeill?
There is no figure for Port McNeill alone; its health region’s is 82.3 for women and 76.9 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Port McNeill’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Port McNeill: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Port McNeill?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Port McNeill from a hospital?
For everyday care, Port McNeill’s residents are 1.1 km from a pharmacy and 9.3 km from a clinic on average.
Photo: David Abercrombie · CC BY-SA 2.0