Photo: Rod Lafond · CC BY 3.0The nearest hospital is 28 km from the average home in Sparwood
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 57% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. For everyday care, the nearest pharmacy is 1.2 km away on average (2.0 within 3 km). Health gives Sparwood a grade of B−, #197 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,046 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Sparwood
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Sparwood runs 1.0 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 20.3 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 5.6 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 56%. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Sparwood grades B− 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: #197 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,046 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.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 56% 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
More adults here report very good or excellent mental health than across British Columbia (56% against 49%), while 16% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
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
Ranked 8th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for Sparwood 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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.3 years of life
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); Sparwood’s region is below the line.
Where residents average 2.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 81.8 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Sparwood belongs to trails at 80.5. Narrow the field to the 10 regions most like it on deprivation and 8 still live longer, with 81.4 years in the middle.
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.
20% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 7.2% 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
Self-reported obesity, 29%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 23% 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.
Everyday care in Sparwood: the nearest pharmacy 1.2 km away, 2.0 within 3 km
Straight-line distances from each part of Sparwood, weighted by who lives there.
From Sparwood that is further than the 4.4 km of the typical town in British Columbia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: Sparwood comes 39th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,401 to 4,572 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Country Hills ON A | 4,561 | 0.5 km | 53% |
| 2 | Eastmount ON B+ | 4,496 | 0.6 km | 53% |
| 3 | Golden BC B+ | 4,433 | 0.7 km | 57% |
| 37 | Vulcan County AB A− | 4,465 | 23 km | 56% |
| 38 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola BC C− | 4,540 | 28 km | 48% |
| 39 | Sparwood BC B− | 4,486 | 28 km | 57% |
| 40 | Casselman ON C− | 4,535 | 32 km | 49% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Sparwood
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparwood | 28 km | 57% | 80.5 | B− |
| Electoral Area A, East Kootenay 18 km | 11 km | 57% | 80.5 | B |
Around Sparwood the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital. Residents of Electoral Area A, East Kootenay live nearer a hospital, at 11 km against 28 km in Sparwood.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Sparwood shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
Questions about health in Sparwood
How far is Sparwood from a hospital?
For everyday care, Sparwood’s residents are 1.2 km from a pharmacy and 143 km from a clinic on average.
How is Sparwood’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 Sparwood’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How healthy is Sparwood?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 16% of adults.
What is the life expectancy in Sparwood?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 82.7 for women, 78.1 for men around Sparwood (2022/2024).
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).