Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy around Smithers is 77.0 years, 4.5 less than for the typical Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 42%, behind the 50% for British Columbia. For Smithers itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.0 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. Smithers grades C− for health, #238 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,415 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Smithers
Less upbeat about their health
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 9.8 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 42% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
More chronic illness
High blood pressure (22%) and diabetes (10%) push the region’s chronic-condition figure above the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Measured from where people live, Smithers is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 0.4 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Smithers 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: #238 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,415 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.
42% 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, 44% 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.
22% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 10% 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
Self-reported obesity, 45%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 26% 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.
Getting to hospital from Smithers: 1.0 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Smithers, weighted by who lives there.
Smithers is closer in 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.
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
Each dot is a health region, not a town, its figures shared by every town in it; Smithers’ region sits on the trend line through 102 regions.
Use the deprivation index alone and Smithers’ region, at 3.9, should live about 77.6 years, the trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and it reaches 77.0, near enough. Most of the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores outlive it (8 of 10, median 78.7 years). Higher incomes, shorter lives: about $92,000 a household, above most regions’, with a life expectancy below most; income and lifespan correlate at only 0.14 across regions.
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.
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
Ranked 14th of 16 in British Columbia: the regions span 76.6 to 86.8 years at birth.
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; Smithers’ 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.
Smithers is 4th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (5,533 to 5,728 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.5 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meadow Lake SK C | 5,667 | 0.6 km | 46% |
| 2 | Montcalm MB B+ | 5,676 | 0.8 km | 52% |
| 3 | Bankview AB A+ | 5,610 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 4 | Smithers BC C− | 5,627 | 1.0 km | 42% |
| 5 | The Pas MB D | 5,634 | 1.1 km | 40% |
| 6 | Wolfville NS C− | 5,587 | 1.2 km | 44% |
| 40 | Chertsey QC B | 5,678 | 30 km | 56% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Smithers
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | 1.0 km | 42% | 77.0 | C− |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako 4.2 km | 13 km | 42% | 77.0 | D |
| Telkwa 13 km | 13 km | 42% | 77.0 | D |
The table’s survey and life-expectancy columns are one region’s, Smithers’; read across for the hospital trip. Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako is the furthest from care, 13 km to Smithers’ 1.0 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Smithers’ own.
Questions about health in Smithers
What is the life expectancy in Smithers?
Women in Smithers’ region live to 79.2 on average and men to 75.0, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Smithers?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 21% of adults.
How is Smithers’ Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Smithers’ distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is Smithers from a hospital?
For everyday care, Smithers’ residents are 0.9 km from a pharmacy and 220 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).