Photo: Kyle Wilson · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer smokers around Sooke: 6% of adults, where the typical Canadian town has 12%
In the health survey, 55% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. What sets Sooke apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 23 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Sooke grades A− for health, #124 of 254 in British Columbia and #986 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sooke
Hospital care at a distance
For 0% of homes in Sooke the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 23 km. Getting care ↓
Less chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 18% of adults, diabetes for 5.9%. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around Sooke runs 1.2 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 21.9 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
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.
Sooke 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: #124 of 254 in British Columbia and #986 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 Sooke, a hospital is 23 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Sooke, weighted by who lives there.
Residents of Sooke 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.
High blood pressure for 18% of adults in the region, diabetes for 5.9%
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 25%, self-reported obesity is near 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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 6th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Sooke 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.3 years behind the trend
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Sooke’s dot is marked, under the line.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 2.1 would suggest 84.0 years, but Sooke’s region stops at 82.7. Even beside regions as deprived, it lags: 9 of its 10 closest matches reach further, their median 83.5 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.
54% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more 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 trails British Columbia: 47% very good or excellent to 49%, with 25% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Sooke comes 40th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (16,760 to 17,708 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bay-Cloverhill ON A | 17,591 | 0.3 km | 50% |
| 2 | La Visitation QC A | 17,166 | 0.5 km | 54% |
| 3 | Davie Village BC A+ | 16,833 | 0.5 km | 50% |
| 38 | Oakbank MB D | 17,494 | 16 km | 50% |
| 39 | Lake Country BC B− | 17,637 | 20 km | 52% |
| 40 | Sooke BC A− | 17,248 | 23 km | 55% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sooke
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sooke | 23 km | 55% | 82.7 | A− |
| Juan de Fuca (Part 1) 4.3 km | 24 km | 55% | 82.7 | A− |
| Metchosin 13 km | 13 km | 55% | 82.7 | A |
| Langford 17 km | 6.3 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
| Colwood 18 km | 6.3 km | 55% | 82.7 | A+ |
Every place around Sooke shares its health region, so their survey figures match; only the distance to care differs. Langford is the closest to care, 6.3 km to Sooke’s 23 km.
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 Sooke’s own.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Distances are straight lines. A straight line from each neighbourhood’s centre to the nearest facility, weighted by who lives there, is shorter than any drive.
- What counts as a hospital. Hospitals and clinics come from Statistics Canada’s facilities database, built from provincial lists of different dates, and a listed hospital may have no emergency department.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Sooke
How far is Sooke from a hospital?
For everyday care, Sooke’s residents are 1.9 km from a pharmacy and 2.0 km from a clinic on average.
How is Sooke’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far Sooke’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Sooke?
For the health region that includes Sooke, women can expect 84.9 years and men 80.5 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Sooke?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 14%.
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).