Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY-SA 2.5Expect 79.8 years of life in the region around Qualicum Beach, 1.7 under the typical Canadian town
Across the region, 47% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole reaches 50%. For Qualicum Beach itself the measure is access, and it lags: 8.7 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Health gives Qualicum Beach a grade of B−, #195 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,035 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Qualicum Beach
Shorter lives than its deprivation predicts
Regions scoring 2.8 on the deprivation index typically live 81.7 years; Qualicum Beach’s region, at 79.8, falls short. For its deprivation ↓
Less upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 5.1 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 44%. Health survey ↓
Deprivation runs low
Statistics Canada’s deprivation index places Qualicum Beach at 1.2 of 5 for situational vulnerability, close to the bottom band. The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Qualicum Beach grades B− 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: #195 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,035 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.9 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Qualicum Beach’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 2.8 would suggest 81.7 years, but Qualicum Beach’s region stops at 79.8. Among the 10 regions scored most like it, it comes last; their median is 81.3 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.
44% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in 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
On mental health the region is behind British Columbia, 46% 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 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.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
The region comes 10th 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
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Qualicum Beach’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.9%
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
Self-reported obesity, 32%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 22% 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.
From Qualicum Beach, a hospital is 8.7 km away on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Qualicum Beach’s own, not the region’s.
Qualicum Beach is further out 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.
Among 40 towns its size, Qualicum Beach is 31st nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 9,439 to 9,849 people, median 3.2 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North London ON A− | 9,584 | 0.7 km | 52% |
| 2 | South Cambie BC A+ | 9,846 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Daniel McIntyre MB B+ | 9,584 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 29 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A NS C− | 9,682 | 8.2 km | 49% |
| 30 | Wiarton ON C+ | 9,799 | 8.2 km | 48% |
| 31 | Qualicum Beach BC B− | 9,640 | 8.7 km | 47% |
| 32 | Plympton-Wyoming ON C+ | 9,548 | 11 km | 49% |
| 33 | Thamesford ON C+ | 9,755 | 11 km | 49% |
| 40 | Shediac NB C | 9,849 | 24 km | 43% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Qualicum Beach
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualicum Beach | 8.7 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo 5.2 km | 5.4 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Electoral Area F, Nanaimo 6.8 km | 8.4 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Parksville 8.6 km | 1.7 km | 47% | 79.8 | B |
| Electoral Area H, Nanaimo 19 km | 21 km | 47% | 79.8 | C+ |
Around Qualicum Beach the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital. Electoral Area H, Nanaimo is the furthest from care, 21 km to Qualicum Beach’s 8.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Qualicum Beach 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
Questions about health in Qualicum Beach
How healthy is Qualicum Beach?
Taken together the region leans less healthy than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 16% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Qualicum Beach?
Women in Qualicum Beach’s region live to 82.6 on average and men to 77.1, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How is Qualicum Beach’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Qualicum Beach’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Qualicum Beach from a hospital?
Residents of Qualicum Beach have a clinic 27 km away on average and a pharmacy 1.7 km away, in straight lines.
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).