Photo: Asahel Curtis · Public domainExpect 76.6 years of life in the region around Quesnel, 4.9 under the typical Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 39%, behind the 50% for British Columbia. Measured from where Quesnel’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 2.1 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Quesnel is C, #227 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,333 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Quesnel
Fewer people feeling well
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 12.4 points below the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 39%. Health survey ↓
Life expectancy short of what deprivation predicts
Quesnel’s region falls short of what its deprivation score of 3.7 predicts: 76.6 years against 78.3. For its deprivation ↓
A heavier load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are commoner here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 26% report high blood pressure and 10% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
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.
Quesnel grades C 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: #227 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,333 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.
39% 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
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 40% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 28% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.7 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Quesnel’s region’s dot is under the line.
Where residents average 3.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 78.3 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Quesnel belongs to trails at 76.6. Even beside regions as deprived, it lags: 9 of its 10 closest matches reach further, their median 78.5 years. Judged by income, around $87,000 a household, the region would look well placed, but income tracks life expectancy only weakly between regions (0.14), and this one lives less long than most.
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.
High blood pressure for 26% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 41% of adults against 25% for British Columbia. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 22% to 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 Quesnel, a hospital is 2.1 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Quesnel, weighted by who lives there.
From Quesnel that is nearer than the 4.4 km of the typical town in British Columbia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
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
Last of the 16 regions in British Columbia: the highest figure is 86.8, 10.2 years above the lowest.
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; Quesnel’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.
Quesnel is 15th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,072 to 10,445 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lac-des-Fées QC B+ | 10,075 | 0.5 km | 55% |
| 2 | South Central ON B+ | 10,392 | 0.6 km | 52% |
| 3 | City Centre ON B+ | 10,269 | 0.9 km | 52% |
| 13 | New Glasgow NS C− | 10,378 | 2.0 km | 42% |
| 14 | Upper Thornhill Estates ON A | 10,435 | 2.0 km | 51% |
| 15 | Quesnel BC C | 10,253 | 2.1 km | 39% |
| 16 | Runnymede-Bloor West Village ON A | 10,129 | 2.1 km | 50% |
| 17 | Hinton AB C− | 10,124 | 2.3 km | 48% |
| 40 | Leeds and the Thousand Islands ON C+ | 10,185 | 26 km | 51% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Quesnel
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quesnel | 2.1 km | 39% | 76.6 | C |
| Electoral Area A, Cariboo 5.5 km | 8.0 km | 39% | 76.6 | C− |
| Electoral Area I, Cariboo 10 km | 25 km | 39% | 76.6 | D |
| Electoral Area C, Cariboo 11 km | 12 km | 39% | 76.6 | C− |
| Electoral Area B, Cariboo 11 km | 11 km | 39% | 76.6 | C− |
Every place around Quesnel shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Residents of Electoral Area I, Cariboo live further from a hospital, at 25 km against 2.1 km in Quesnel.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Quesnel’s own.
- 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. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Quesnel
How healthy is Quesnel?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 20%.
What is the life expectancy in Quesnel?
There is no figure for Quesnel alone; its health region’s is 79.5 for women and 74.0 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Quesnel’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Quesnel has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Quesnel from a hospital?
Residents of Quesnel have a clinic 2.1 km away on average and a pharmacy 2.1 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).