Photo: Mangoandmay · CC BY-SA 4.0Sicamous’ region trails the typical Canadian town by 2.7 years: life expectancy 78.8
Across the region, 48% of adults say their health is very good or excellent; British Columbia as a whole reaches 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Sicamous’ is long: 25 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. The Health grade for Sicamous is C−, #231 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,368 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sicamous
A long way to hospital
Residents of Sicamous live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (25 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Behind regions as deprived
Set against regions as deprived (3.1), Sicamous’ region loses years: 78.8 where the trend says 80.5. For its deprivation ↓
A long way to a pharmacy
From the average home in Sicamous, a pharmacy is 26 km away, a longer trip than most Canadians make for medicine. Getting care ↓
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.
Sicamous 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: #231 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,368 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.
From Sicamous, a hospital is 25 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Sicamous, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Sicamous travel further 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.
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.
The region lives 1.7 years less than its deprivation predicts
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Sicamous’ region’s dot is under the line.
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 3.1, Sicamous’ region’s 78.8 years sit under the line’s 80.5. Among the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, every one does better; they centre on 80.9 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.
23% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 8.2% diabetes
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
At 33%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (22% 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health regions in British Columbia
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
This region is 13th longest-lived of 16 in British Columbia, on a scale from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
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; Sicamous’ 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.
47% 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 beats British Columbia as well: 52% very good or excellent to 49%, with 23% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Sicamous is 34th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (2,820 to 2,887 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westmount SK A− | 2,872 | 0.8 km | 49% |
| 2 | Forestville QC B+ | 2,835 | 0.9 km | 61% |
| 3 | McKernan AB B+ | 2,880 | 0.9 km | 51% |
| 32 | Head of St Margarets Bay NS B− | 2,885 | 22 km | 51% |
| 33 | Saint-Anicet QC B+ | 2,854 | 23 km | 55% |
| 34 | Sicamous BC C− | 2,854 | 25 km | 48% |
| 35 | Laurier-Station QC B | 2,838 | 32 km | 59% |
| 36 | Botwood NL D | 2,884 | 32 km | 54% |
| 40 | Saint-Michel-des-Saints QC B | 2,841 | 76 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sicamous
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicamous | 25 km | 48% | 78.8 | C− |
| Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap 9.3 km | 31 km | 48% | 78.8 | C− |
Sicamous and all of these places belong to one health region: the regional figures repeat, the hospital distances don’t.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Sicamous’ own.
- 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. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- 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.
Questions about health in Sicamous
How far is Sicamous from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Sicamous is 1.4 km from a clinic and 26 km from a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in Sicamous?
For the health region that includes Sicamous, women can expect 81.8 years and men 76.0 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Sicamous?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 18%.
How is Sicamous’ Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Sicamous’ own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
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).