Photo: 36reasons · Public domainVery good or excellent health for 52% of adults in West Kelowna’s health region
A baby born in the region can expect 81.0 years, 84.1 for a girl and 78.2 for a boy (2022/2024). For West Kelowna itself the measure is access, and it lags: 8.5 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical. The Health grade for West Kelowna is B, #161 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,780 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in West Kelowna
Life expectancy under the deprivation trend
Set against regions as deprived (2.5), West Kelowna’s region loses years: 81.0 where the trend says 82.9. For its deprivation ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
West Kelowna grades B 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: #161 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,780 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.
Shorter lives than deprivation would give: 1.9 years behind the trend
Plotted region by region (102 in all, since towns have no figures of their own), West Kelowna’s region comes out below the trend.
Deprivation accounts for much of the spread between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102), but not for all of West Kelowna’s region’s: 81.0 years where the line expects 82.9 at 2.5. Its 10 closest matches on deprivation lean longer-lived: 9 of them above it, a median of 82.9. Judged by income, around $81,000 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.
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.9%
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
Self-reported obesity, 28%, tops British Columbia (25%). More adults drink heavily, 25% to the province’s 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.
From West Kelowna, a hospital is 8.5 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of West Kelowna, weighted by who lives there.
From West Kelowna 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.
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.
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, 7th 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
This is the one part of the block measured for West Kelowna 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.
51% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia (50%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Asked about their mental health, 48% of adults here said very good or excellent; across British Columbia it was 49%, and 26% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Among 40 towns its size, West Kelowna is 40th nearest a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (36,452 to 43,877 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 3.3 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mount Pleasant BC A+ | 37,091 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 2 | Côte-Saint-Luc QC A | 37,901 | 1.0 km | 54% |
| 3 | Yaletown BC A+ | 40,297 | 1.1 km | 50% |
| 38 | Panorama Ridge BC A | 36,473 | 6.9 km | 50% |
| 39 | Rouyn-Noranda QC B | 43,270 | 7.1 km | 57% |
| 40 | West Kelowna BC B | 40,274 | 8.5 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around West Kelowna
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Kelowna | 8.5 km | 52% | 81.0 | B |
| Tsinstikeptum 9 1.0 km | 9.0 km | 52% | 81.0 | B |
| Tsinstikeptum 10 5.6 km | 3.4 km | 52% | 81.0 | B+ |
| Kelowna 12 km | 5.6 km | 52% | 81.0 | B |
| Peachland 13 km | 19 km | 52% | 81.0 | B− |
Around West Kelowna the health region doesn’t change, so the only column that moves is the distance to a hospital. Peachland is the furthest from care, 19 km to West Kelowna’s 8.5 km.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Deprivation is context. None of the four deprivation scores enters the grade; they come from the 2021 index, which skips the territories.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Kelowna’s own.
- Who the survey asks. The survey’s frame skips reserves and other Indigenous settlements, institutions, the Forces and two Québec regions, so their figures come from elsewhere or not at all.
Questions about health in West Kelowna
How is West Kelowna’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for West Kelowna: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is West Kelowna from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in West Kelowna is 1.9 km from a clinic and 1.8 km from a pharmacy.
What is the life expectancy in West Kelowna?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 84.1 for women, 78.2 for men around West Kelowna (2022/2024).
How healthy is West Kelowna?
The region does better than the typical Canadian town on most regional measures, with at least one exception. Chronic conditions there average 16% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
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).