Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Few places match West End for health: it beats 98% of Canadian towns
Self-rated health is ordinary for British Columbia: 50% of the region’s adults say very good or excellent, the province 50%. For West End itself the measure is access, and it scores well: 1.0 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. West End grades A+ for health, #17 of 254 in British Columbia and #66 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in West End
Fewer smokers
Smoking is rarer around West End than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 4.4% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A lighter load of illness
For its ages, the region carries less long-term illness than most: high blood pressure for 16% of adults, diabetes for 6.1%. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
Life expectancy in the region around West End runs 1.8 years ahead of the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 22.8 more years (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Measured from where people live, West End is among the nearest towns to hospital care; its centre is 1.0 km away. Getting care ↓
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.
West End 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: #17 of 254 in British Columbia and #66 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%
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
At 17%, self-reported obesity is below British Columbia’s 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 regions in British Columbia
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
Ranked 4th of 16 in British Columbia: the regions span 76.6 to 86.8 years at birth.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for West End itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 1.0 km from the average home in West End
Straight-line distances from each part of West End, weighted by who lives there.
From West End that is nearer than the 4.4 km of the typical town in British Columbia, and the 3.7 km of the typical Canadian town.
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.
1.0 fewer years of life than regions as deprived
Compared region with region (102 health regions, each figure shared by all its towns); West End’s region is below the line.
Shorter lives come with deeper deprivation across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83). Even allowing for its score of 2.0, West End’s region’s 83.3 years sit under the line’s 84.3. Among its 10 nearest neighbours on the index it sits mid-table: 5 above, 5 below, a median of 83.5 years. Judged by income, around $82,000 a household, the region would look poorly placed, but income tracks life expectancy only weakly between regions (0.14), and this one outlives most.
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.
52% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (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
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 46% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 27% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: West End comes 7th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (29,066 to 32,167 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.7 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verdun-Centre QC A | 30,304 | 0.5 km | 54% |
| 2 | Centretown ON A+ | 32,035 | 0.5 km | 56% |
| 3 | Vieux-Lachine - Saint-Pierre QC A | 31,113 | 0.9 km | 54% |
| 5 | La Cité QC B+ | 30,930 | 1.0 km | 55% |
| 6 | St Lawrence-East Bayfront-The Islands ON A | 31,360 | 1.0 km | 50% |
| 7 | West End BC A+ | 30,785 | 1.0 km | 50% |
| 8 | Crémazie QC A | 29,907 | 1.1 km | 54% |
| 9 | Est (Montréal-Nord) QC A | 31,383 | 1.1 km | 54% |
| 40 | Conception Bay South NL C+ | 29,725 | 17 km | 54% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around West End
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West End | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Davie Village 0.7 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Coal Harbour 0.7 km | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Granville Entertainment District 1.4 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Yaletown 1.8 km | 1.1 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Kitsilano 2.6 km | 2.1 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Fairview 2.7 km | 0.7 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry West End’s regional figures.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- 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. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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 West End’s own.
Questions about health in West End
What is the life expectancy in West End?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 86.5 for women, 80.2 for men around West End (2022/2024).
How is West End’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and West End’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is West End?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 13%.
How far is West End from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in West End live: 0.4 km to a clinic, 0.2 km to a pharmacy.
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).