Photo: Xicotencatl · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places match Kitsilano for health: it beats 97% of Canadian towns
Across the region, 50% of adults say their health is very good or excellent, much as in British Columbia (50%). The town’s own part is the trip to care, and Kitsilano is well placed: 2.1 km to a hospital on average, against 3.7 km typical. Kitsilano grades A+ for health, #32 of 254 in British Columbia and #141 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Kitsilano
Smoking runs low
Around Kitsilano, only 4.4% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate lower than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Long-term conditions run low
Arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure are rarer here than in the typical town’s region, even for its ages: 16% report high blood pressure and 6.1% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Longer lives in the region
Kitsilano’s region sits 1.8 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.8 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Plenty of pharmacies
With 45 pharmacies within 3 km of the average home and the nearest 0.4 km off, Kitsilano is well served for prescriptions. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Kitsilano 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: #32 of 254 in British Columbia and #141 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.
High blood pressure for 16% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.1%
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
Obesity runs lower than in the province, at 17% of adults against 25% for British Columbia.
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.
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.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
The region comes 4th of 16 in British Columbia, where life expectancy runs from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for Kitsilano’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Getting to hospital from Kitsilano: 2.1 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Kitsilano’s own, not the region’s.
Compared with 4.4 km for the typical town in British Columbia and 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town, Kitsilano is on the near side.
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.
The region lives 1.0 years less than its deprivation predicts
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Kitsilano’s, lies beneath the trend.
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 2.0, Kitsilano’s region’s 83.3 years sit under the line’s 84.3. The 10 regions closest to it on the index split evenly around it, 5 above and 5 below; their median is 83.5 years. Lower incomes, longer lives: about $82,000 a household, under most regions’, with a life expectancy above 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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in British Columbia: 52% and 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
On mental health the region is behind British Columbia, 46% very good or excellent to 49%; 27% 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.
Mid-table for hospital distance among towns its size: Kitsilano comes 14th of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 26,155 to 28,414 people, median 2.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parc-Kent QC A | 27,291 | 0.4 km | 54% |
| 2 | Loyola QC A | 26,607 | 0.6 km | 54% |
| 3 | René-Lévesque QC A | 28,061 | 0.6 km | 54% |
| 12 | Woburn North ON A | 26,662 | 1.7 km | 50% |
| 13 | Don Valley Village ON A | 26,972 | 1.8 km | 50% |
| 14 | Kitsilano BC A+ | 27,320 | 2.1 km | 50% |
| 15 | Collingwood ON A− | 28,366 | 2.3 km | 54% |
| 16 | Banbury-Don Mills ON A | 27,472 | 2.4 km | 50% |
| 40 | Enfield NS D− | 26,960 | 26 km | 42% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Kitsilano
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsilano | 2.1 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Greektown 1.7 km | 3.6 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Fairview 1.7 km | 0.7 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Davie Village 2.1 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Granville Entertainment District 2.4 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Arbutus Ridge 2.4 km | 2.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| West End 2.6 km | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
The neighbours all sit in Kitsilano’s health region, which is why their regional columns are identical.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Kitsilano’s own.
- Adjusted for age. Standardising for age lets a retirement region and a young one be set side by side; the charts keep the raw answers, the grade the standardised ones.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Kitsilano
How is Kitsilano’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Kitsilano’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Kitsilano?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Kitsilano’s health region only: 86.5 years for women and 80.2 for men (2022/2024).
How healthy is Kitsilano?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 13% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Kitsilano from a hospital?
Residents of Kitsilano have a clinic 0.7 km away on average and a pharmacy 0.4 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).