Health in Telkwa · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Telkwa scores below 93% of Canadian towns for health
In the health survey, 42% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. What sets Telkwa apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 13 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). The Health grade for Telkwa is D.
British Columbia: 50% · Area-wide: very good or excellent health, chronic conditions, smokers and life expectancy, counted over the Northwest Health Service Delivery Area
Chronic conditions
21%
arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure: average share
Telkwa’s region sits 4.5 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 19.3 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Self-rated health runs low
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 ↓
Long-term conditions run high
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 at a distance
For 0% of homes in Telkwa the nearest hospital is over 30 km off; from the town’s centre of population it is 13 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
Telkwa grades D for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (42%)Better than 3% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (21%)Better than 4% of Canadian towns
Smokers (14%)Better than 39% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (77.0)Better than 7% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (13 km)Better than 47% of Canadian towns
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.
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
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.
77.0
years at birth, 2022/2024
19.3
more years expected at 65
14th
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, 14th 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 instability3.0
Economic dependency2.2
Ethno-cultural composition2.0
Situational vulnerability3.2
Statistics Canada scores every small area from 1 to 5 on each dimension; Telkwa’s 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.
Health survey
Fewer people rate their health highly here than in British Columbia: 42% 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
42%
Health fair or poor
18%
Mental health very good or excellent
44%
Mental health fair or poor
16%
Most days quite a bit stressful
22%
Strong sense of belonging
70%
Satisfied with life
86%
British Columbia
Mental health trails British Columbia: 44% very good or excellent to 49%, with 22% facing stressful days.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Conditions and habits
High blood pressure for 22% of adults in the region, diabetes for 10%
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
22%
Arthritis
31%
Diabetes
10%
Obese (self-reported)
45%
Mood disorder
16%
Anxiety disorder
11%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
14%
Smoke every day
11%
Heavy drinking
26%
British Columbia
More adults report obesity than across British Columbia: 45%, the province 25%. At 26%, heavy drinking beats the provincial 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 care
Getting to hospital from Telkwa: 13 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Telkwa, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
13 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
209 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
13 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 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
From Telkwa 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.
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; Telkwa’s region sits on the trend line through 102 regions.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Placed among 102 regions by deprivation (correlation −0.83), the region Telkwa belongs to lives about as long as its score of 3.9 predicts: 77.0 years, the trend 77.6. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it trails the majority, 8 of 10; their median is 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.
Neighbours
Health in the places around Telkwa
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
One health region covers Telkwa and every place in the table, so the survey and life-expectancy columns read the same. Residents of Smithers live nearer a hospital, at 1.0 km against 13 km in Telkwa.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
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.
•
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.
•
Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Telkwa itself is the trip to care.
•
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. 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.
Questions about health in Telkwa
What is the life expectancy in Telkwa?
For the health region that includes Telkwa, women can expect 79.2 years and men 75.0 (2022/2024).
How healthy is Telkwa?
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 Telkwa’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Telkwa’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
How far is Telkwa from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Telkwa live: 209 km to a clinic, 13 km to a pharmacy.