Health in Surrey · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Surrey’s health region counts just 8.2% of adults who smoke, below the typical Canadian town’s 12%
Self-rated health is ordinary for British Columbia: 50% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 50%. The town’s own part is the trip to care: residents of Surrey live 4.6 km from a hospital on average, close to the typical town’s 3.7 km. Life expectancy in the region is 83.2 years (85.8 for women, 80.7 for men, 2022/2024).
British Columbia: 50% · Measured across the Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy
Chronic conditions
15%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Surrey’s region sits 1.7 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.1 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Less chronic illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 16% of adults, diabetes for 6.7%. Conditions and habits ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
The average resident of Surrey can reach 9.8 pharmacies inside 3 km; the closest is 1.0 km off. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
No Health grade for Surrey yet
What the grade will weigh: the region’s survey and life expectancy, and the town’s own distance to a hospital, each against Canadian towns.
50%
very good or excellent health, region (typical town 52%)
15%
chronic conditions, region (typical town 17%)
8.2%
smokers, region (typical town 12%)
83.2
life expectancy, region (typical town 81.5)
4.6 km
to a hospital, town’s residents (typical town 3.7 km)
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.
The wider area
How the 16 health regions in British Columbia compare on life expectancy
Regional life expectancy in British Columbia, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
83.2
years at birth, 2022/2024
22.1
more years expected at 65
5th
longest of 16 regions in British Columbia
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Richmond Health Service Delivery Area86.8
Fraser North Health Service Delivery Area84.4
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi Health Service Delivery Area84.3
Vancouver Health Service Delivery Area83.3
Fraser South Health Service Delivery Area83.2
South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area82.7
Okanagan Health Service Delivery Area81.0
East Kootenay Health Service Delivery Area80.5
Fraser East Health Service Delivery Area80.0
Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.8
Kootenay-Boundary Health Service Delivery Area79.5
North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area79.5
Thompson/Cariboo Health Service Delivery Area78.8
Northwest Health Service Delivery Area77.0
Northeast Health Service Delivery Area76.9
Northern Interior Health Service Delivery Area76.6
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 5th 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
Residential instability2.9
Economic dependency2.3
Ethno-cultural composition4.8
Situational vulnerability2.5
The index is context and never graded: it describes Surrey’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Conditions and habits
High blood pressure for 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.7%
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
16%
Arthritis
19%
Diabetes
6.7%
Obese (self-reported)
23%
Mood disorder
14%
Anxiety disorder
11%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
8.2%
Smoke every day
5.6%
Heavy drinking
16%
British Columbia
About as many adults report obesity as across British Columbia: 23%, the province 25%.
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 care
The nearest hospital is 4.6 km from the average home in Surrey
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Surrey’s own, not the region’s.
Hospital
4.6 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
1.4 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
1.0 km
residents’ average distance
9.8 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Nothing unusual for Surrey here: the typical town in British Columbia is 4.4 km from a hospital and the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for Surrey’s region, on the line, stands for every town in it.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
At 2.3 on the index, regions tend to reach 83.4 years (correlation −0.83, 102 regions), and the one Surrey belongs to reaches 83.2. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 7 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 82.9 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.
Health survey
Self-rated health much as in British Columbia: 50% to 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
50%
Health fair or poor
15%
Mental health very good or excellent
51%
Mental health fair or poor
16%
Most days quite a bit stressful
23%
Strong sense of belonging
62%
Satisfied with life
83%
British Columbia
Mental health is no outlier: 51% say very good or excellent (British Columbia: 49%) and 23% live with stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Neighbours
Health in the places around Surrey
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
The neighbours all sit in Surrey’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical. Surrey Centre is the furthest from care, 9.1 km to Surrey’s 4.6 km.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
•
Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Surrey itself is the trip to care.
•
What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
•
Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
•
Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
Questions about health in Surrey
Does Surrey have a Health grade?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Surrey has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance against the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Surrey?
For the health region that includes Surrey, women can expect 85.8 years and men 80.7 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Surrey?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Surrey from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Surrey is 1.4 km from a clinic and 1.0 km from a pharmacy.
Photo: Leoboudv · CC BY-SA 3.0