Photo: James Blake aka Webgeer at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.0Health in Powell River 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. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Powell River live 2.6 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Health gives Powell River a grade of A+, #2 of 254 in British Columbia and #8 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Powell River
Smoking runs low
The age-standardised smoking rate around Powell River is well below the typical town’s; 3.7% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Born around Powell River, 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 ↓
Less chronic illness
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.
Powell River 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: #2 of 254 in British Columbia and #8 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (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
At 23%, self-reported obesity is near British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (23% against 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 3rd.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Powell River’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
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
On mental health the region is ahead of British Columbia, 55% 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.4 years behind the trend
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Powell River’s region, below the line, stands for every town in it.
Use the deprivation index alone and Powell River’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. 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.
Getting to hospital from Powell River: 2.6 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Powell River’s own, not the region’s.
Powell River is closer in than the provincial norm of 4.4 km in British Columbia, and than the typical Canadian town at 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.
Powell River is 19th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 14,684 to 15,220 people, median 2.9 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Louis QC A | 14,824 | 0.5 km | 54% |
| 2 | Roncesvalles ON A | 14,725 | 0.8 km | 50% |
| 3 | South London ON A− | 14,684 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 17 | Dupéré QC A | 15,036 | 2.1 km | 54% |
| 18 | Arbutus Ridge BC A+ | 15,083 | 2.5 km | 50% |
| 19 | Powell River BC A+ | 14,947 | 2.6 km | 59% |
| 20 | Royal Orchard ON A− | 15,006 | 2.6 km | 49% |
| 21 | Vieux-Bourg QC A+ | 14,774 | 3.2 km | 62% |
| 40 | Whistler BC A | 15,090 | 48 km | 59% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Powell River
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powell River | 2.6 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area B, qathet 4.7 km | 6.3 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area C, qathet 13 km | 15 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area D, qathet 19 km | 16 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Powell River from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Residents of Electoral Area D, qathet live further from a hospital, at 16 km against 2.6 km in Powell River.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Powell River itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- 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.
Questions about health in Powell River
How healthy is Powell River?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 12%.
What is the life expectancy in Powell River?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.3 for women, 82.3 for men around Powell River (2022/2024).
How is Powell River’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Powell River’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Powell River from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Powell River is 37 km from a clinic and 2.5 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).