Photo: The original uploader was Damieng at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Squamish beats almost every Canadian town
Adults here are more upbeat about their health than the province: 59% very good or excellent, against 50% in British Columbia. Measured from where Squamish’s residents live, a hospital is 3.7 km away, near the 3.7 km most towns see. Squamish grades A+ for health, #5 of 254 in British Columbia and #23 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Squamish
A region that smokes less
The age-standardised smoking rate around Squamish is well below the typical town’s; 3.7% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around Squamish runs 2.8 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 22.6 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A lighter load of illness
High blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%) keep the region’s chronic-condition figure below the typical Canadian town’s. Conditions and habits ↓
More people feeling well
Even once age is allowed for, 7.6 points more adults here call their health very good or excellent than in the typical town’s region (59% as answered). Health survey ↓
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.
Squamish 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: #5 of 254 in British Columbia and #23 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%)
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
About as many adults report obesity as across British Columbia: 23%, the province 25%. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 23% to 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
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Life expectancy in British Columbia runs from 76.6 to 86.8; this region sits 3rd of the 16.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas Squamish’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 59% 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 (55% against 49%), while 22% call most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The region lives 1.4 years less than its deprivation predicts
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), Squamish’s region comes out below the trend.
Where residents average 1.7 on the index, regions tend to reach 85.7 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions); the one Squamish belongs to trails at 84.3. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 6 of its 10 closest matches fall short, 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.
Getting to hospital from Squamish: 3.7 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Squamish’s own, not the region’s.
Against 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Squamish sits near the middle.
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: Squamish comes 24th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 27,291 to 29,960 people, median 2.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montagne QC A | 28,569 | 0.4 km | 54% |
| 2 | Parc-Kent QC A | 27,291 | 0.4 km | 54% |
| 3 | Marie-Victorin QC A | 28,904 | 0.6 km | 54% |
| 22 | Agincourt North ON A | 27,790 | 2.9 km | 50% |
| 23 | Marpole BC A+ | 28,182 | 3.5 km | 50% |
| 24 | Squamish BC A+ | 28,578 | 3.7 km | 59% |
| 25 | Wexford/Maryvale ON A | 28,591 | 3.7 km | 50% |
| 26 | Du Plateau QC B | 29,234 | 4.0 km | 55% |
| 40 | Amherstburg ON B− | 27,509 | 19 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Squamish
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squamish | 3.7 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Electoral Area D, Squamish-Lillooet 4.1 km | 5.6 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
Same region, same survey: Squamish’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Squamish itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
Questions about health in Squamish
How healthy is Squamish?
Self-rated health, chronic conditions, smoking and life expectancy all come out ahead of the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 12%.
What is the life expectancy in Squamish?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.3 for women, 82.3 for men around Squamish (2022/2024).
How is Squamish’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 Squamish’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Squamish from a hospital?
A clinic is 2.8 km from the average resident of Squamish and a pharmacy 3.2 km, as the crow flies.
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).