Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0For health, Sechelt is ahead of almost every Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 59%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. Closer to home, a hospital sits 3.0 km from the average resident of Sechelt, about the norm of 3.7 km. Sechelt grades A+ for health, #3 of 254 in British Columbia and #19 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sechelt
A region that smokes less
Around Sechelt, only 3.7% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Sechelt’s region sits 2.8 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.6 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Less chronic illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 16% report high blood pressure and 4% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Self-rated health runs high
Even once age is allowed for, 7.6 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (59% as answered). 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.
Sechelt 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: #3 of 254 in British Columbia and #19 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%)
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, 23%, sits within a few points of British Columbia (25%). At 23%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 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.
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
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 3rd 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
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Sechelt’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.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 59% very good or excellent, against 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 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.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.4 years short of the trend
Every town shares its health region’s figures, so this compares 102 regions; the one holding Sechelt’s lies below the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 1.7, the expected figure is 85.7 years, and Sechelt’s region falls below with 84.3. The 10 regions scored most like it mostly do worse (6 of 10), with a median of 83.5.
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.
The nearest hospital is 3.0 km from the average home in Sechelt
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Sechelt’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Sechelt is on the near side. The centre of population is 1.0 km from a hospital, but spread-out homes take the residents’ average to 3.0 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, Sechelt is 20th nearest a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 11,333 to 11,782 people, median 3.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milton-Parc QC A | 11,369 | 0.2 km | 54% |
| 2 | New Toronto ON A | 11,502 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Banff AB A+ | 11,402 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 18 | Long Branch ON A | 11,400 | 2.4 km | 50% |
| 19 | Fontainebleau ON B | 11,567 | 2.8 km | 52% |
| 20 | Sechelt BC A+ | 11,558 | 3.0 km | 59% |
| 21 | Beddington Heights AB A+ | 11,333 | 3.7 km | 56% |
| 22 | Bridgwater Trails MB B+ | 11,365 | 4.1 km | 52% |
| 40 | Chester NS D− | 11,740 | 25 km | 44% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sechelt
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sechelt | 3.0 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Welcome Beach 11 km | 11 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Roberts Creek 12 km | 9.9 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast 18 km | 17 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
Nothing in the regional columns separates Sechelt from its neighbours; the hospital distance is what does. Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast is the furthest from care, 17 km to Sechelt’s 3.0 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
- 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. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Sechelt shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
Questions about health in Sechelt
How healthy is Sechelt?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 12%.
What is the life expectancy in Sechelt?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Sechelt’s health region only: 86.3 years for women and 82.3 for men (2022/2024).
How is Sechelt’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Sechelt’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Sechelt from a hospital?
For everyday care, Sechelt’s residents are 2.1 km from a pharmacy and 19 km from a clinic on average.
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).