Photo: The original uploader was RandyMac at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0Health in Trail beats 85% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 55% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, more than British Columbia’s 50%. Measured from where Trail’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Trail is A, #123 of 254 in British Columbia and #919 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Trail
Shorter lives in the region
Life expectancy in the region around Trail runs 2.0 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 19.9 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
A lighter load of illness
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 19% report high blood pressure and 5.5% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Trail 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: #123 of 254 in British Columbia and #919 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.
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.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 11th 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
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Trail’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
19% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 5.5% diabetes
What the survey finds on conditions, weight and habits for the region, the province as the tick.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
More adults report obesity than across British Columbia: 28%, the province 25%. At 28%, 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.
1.4 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Trail’s region’s dot is under the line.
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 3.0, Trail’s region’s 79.5 years sit under the line’s 80.9. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 8 of them above it, a median of 80.3.
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.
From Trail, a hospital is 1.7 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Trail, weighted by who lives there.
Trail is closer in than the provincial norm of 4.4 km in British Columbia, and than the typical Canadian town at 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.
Self-rated health beats British Columbia: 53% very good or excellent, against 50%
How adults in the health region answered the survey, not adjusted for age; the tick marks the province.
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region tracks British Columbia, 48% very good or excellent to 49%; 22% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Trail is 6th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (8,399 to 8,680 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.8 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garneau AB B+ | 8,492 | 0.5 km | 51% |
| 2 | West Centretown ON A+ | 8,560 | 0.7 km | 56% |
| 3 | Iqaluit NU D | 8,612 | 0.8 km | 39% |
| 4 | Dauphin MB B− | 8,587 | 1.4 km | 51% |
| 5 | Goderich ON B | 8,412 | 1.5 km | 45% |
| 6 | Trail BC A | 8,539 | 1.7 km | 55% |
| 7 | Somerset AB A+ | 8,416 | 1.8 km | 56% |
| 8 | Hillhurst AB A+ | 8,435 | 2.1 km | 56% |
| 40 | Muskoka Lakes ON B | 8,463 | 20 km | 54% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Trail
Nearby places: distance to a hospital and each one’s regional figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trail | 1.7 km | 55% | 79.5 | A |
| Warfield 4.2 km | 3.6 km | 55% | 79.5 | A− |
| Montrose 7.8 km | 8.6 km | 55% | 79.5 | A− |
| Rossland 7.8 km | 7.9 km | 55% | 79.5 | A− |
| Fruitvale 11 km | 11 km | 55% | 79.5 | B+ |
| Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary 12 km | 11 km | 55% | 79.5 | B+ |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary 13 km | 8.3 km | 55% | 79.5 | A− |
Only the hospital column is local here: Trail and its neighbours share one health region’s survey. Electoral Area A, Kootenay Boundary is the furthest from care, 11 km to Trail’s 1.7 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Distances are straight lines. Roads, rivers and ferries aren’t in it: the figure is a straight line from where people live, averaged over residents.
- Deprivation is context. Deprivation is shown to set the scene and doesn’t count toward the grade; Statistics Canada left the territories out of the index.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Trail itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Trail
How is Trail’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Trail 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 Trail?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Trail’s health region only: 82.8 years for women and 76.5 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Trail?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 14% of adults.
How far is Trail from a hospital?
Residents of Trail have a clinic 52 km away on average and a pharmacy 5.3 km away, in straight lines.
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).