Photo: Buidhe · CC BY-SA 4.0Health in West Vancouver beats almost every Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 59%, ahead of the 50% for British Columbia. What sets West Vancouver apart within its region is a longer trip to hospital, 7.5 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). West Vancouver grades A+ for health, #6 of 254 in British Columbia and #36 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in West Vancouver
A region that smokes less
Smoking is rarer around West Vancouver than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 3.7% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy above the norm
Born around West Vancouver, a child can expect 2.8 more years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 22.6 (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
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 4% diabetes. Conditions and habits ↓
Upbeat about their health
Adjusted for age, the region’s share in very good or excellent health is 7.6 points above the typical Canadian town’s; as answered, it is 59%. Health survey ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
West Vancouver 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: #6 of 254 in British Columbia and #36 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (16%) and diabetes (4%)
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
On weight the region is ordinary for British Columbia: 23% report obesity, the province 25%. More adults drink heavily, 23% 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.
Life expectancy across the 16 health regions in British Columbia
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
Of the 16 health regions in British Columbia, 3rd 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
Context only: each bar is the residents’ average quintile on one dimension of Statistics Canada’s index, for West Vancouver’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
59% in the region call their health very good or excellent, more than in 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 better than in the province too: 55% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 22% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Deprivation predicts more: the region falls 1.4 years short of the trend
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; West Vancouver’s region’s dot is under the line.
Life expectancy and deprivation move in opposite directions across 102 regions (correlation −0.83); at 1.7, the expected figure is 85.7 years, and West Vancouver’s region falls below with 84.3. Set beside its 10 nearest neighbours on the index, it outlives the majority, 6 of 10; their median is 83.5 years.
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.
Getting to hospital from West Vancouver: 7.5 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is West Vancouver’s own, not the region’s.
Residents of West Vancouver travel further than most of the province: the typical town in British Columbia is 4.4 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 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.
Further from a hospital than most towns its size: West Vancouver comes 33rd of 40
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 41,910 to 54,539 people, median 4.1 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sault-Saint-Louis QC A | 47,270 | 1.3 km | 54% |
| 2 | Saint-Eustache QC A+ | 47,562 | 1.4 km | 60% |
| 3 | Cornwall ON B− | 54,346 | 1.5 km | 49% |
| 31 | Rouyn-Noranda QC B | 43,270 | 7.1 km | 57% |
| 32 | Paris ON C+ | 45,565 | 7.3 km | 43% |
| 33 | West Vancouver BC A+ | 47,929 | 7.5 km | 59% |
| 34 | Alliston ON B+ | 50,739 | 7.9 km | 54% |
| 35 | Bradford ON B+ | 51,346 | 8.5 km | 54% |
| 40 | Lakeshore ON B− | 45,954 | 20 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 Vancouver
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 Vancouver | 7.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Capilano 5 4.0 km | 4.5 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| West End 6.9 km | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Coal Harbour 7.1 km | 1.0 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| Davie Village 7.5 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
| North Vancouver 8.2 km | 1.1 km | 59% | 84.3 | A+ |
| Granville Entertainment District 8.3 km | 0.5 km | 50% | 83.3 | A+ |
West End falls in another health region, with a life expectancy of 83.3 against 84.3 here. Residents of Davie Village live nearer a hospital, at 0.5 km against 7.5 km in West Vancouver.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for West Vancouver itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in West Vancouver
How healthy is West Vancouver?
The region beats the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. Chronic conditions there average 12% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in West Vancouver?
For the health region that includes West Vancouver, women can expect 86.3 years and men 82.3 (2022/2024).
How is West Vancouver’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and West Vancouver’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How far is West Vancouver from a hospital?
A clinic is 1.6 km from the average resident of West Vancouver and a pharmacy 1.4 km, as the crow flies.
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).