Photo: Sidney Museum · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Sidney beats 95% of Canadian towns
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 55%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. Closer to home, a hospital is 6.5 km from the average resident of Sidney, further than the usual 3.7 km. The Health grade for Sidney is A, #51 of 254 in British Columbia and #283 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sidney
A region that smokes less
Smoking is rarer around Sidney than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.8% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run low
High blood pressure (18%) and diabetes (5.9%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Sidney’s region sits 1.2 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 21.9 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Sidney can reach 4.0 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 1.0 km off. 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.
Sidney 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: #51 of 254 in British Columbia and #283 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.
High blood pressure for 18% of adults in the region, diabetes for 5.9%
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
Obesity is close to the province’s level, 25% of adults against 25% for British Columbia. At 22%, 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 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
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 6th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Sidney itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
From Sidney, a hospital is 6.5 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Sidney, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Sidney 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 1.3 years less than its deprivation predicts
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Sidney’s region is below the line.
Deprivation accounts for much of the spread between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), but not for all of Sidney’s region’s: 82.7 years where the line expects 84.0 at 2.1. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 9 of them above it, 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.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 54% very good or excellent, against 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
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 47% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 25% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, Sidney is 33rd nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (13,171 to 13,710 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Queen West ON A | 13,599 | 0.4 km | 50% |
| 2 | Durand ON B+ | 13,338 | 0.7 km | 53% |
| 3 | Vanier QC A+ | 13,494 | 0.8 km | 62% |
| 31 | Douglasdale/Glen AB A | 13,333 | 6.3 km | 56% |
| 32 | Aloha Estates BC A | 13,194 | 6.4 km | 50% |
| 33 | Sidney BC A | 13,445 | 6.5 km | 55% |
| 34 | Cloverdale BC A | 13,615 | 8.3 km | 50% |
| 35 | Beaverton ON B | 13,710 | 9.2 km | 50% |
| 40 | Bonnyville No. 87 AB D | 13,265 | 16 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sidney
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney | 6.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| North Saanich 2.4 km | 6.9 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| East Saanich 2 7.4 km | 1.5 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Central Saanich 9.4 km | 3.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 11 km | 12 km | 47% | 79.8 | B− |
| Cobble Hill 13 km | 14 km | 47% | 79.8 | C+ |
| Highlands 15 km | 8.0 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 79.8 against 82.7 here. Cobble Hill is the furthest from care, 14 km to Sidney’s 6.5 km.
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 Sidney itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- 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.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
Questions about health in Sidney
How is Sidney’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Sidney’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Sidney?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Sidney’s health region only: 84.9 years for women and 80.5 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Sidney?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 14%.
How far is Sidney from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Sidney live: 1.1 km to a clinic, 1.0 km to 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).