Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0For health, White Rock is ahead of 94% of Canadian towns
In the health survey, 50% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to British Columbia’s 50%. Measured from where White Rock’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 1.1 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. Health gives White Rock a grade of A, #54 of 254 in British Columbia and #361 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in White Rock
Smoking runs low
Smoking is rarer around White Rock than in the typical Canadian town’s region, and 5.6% of adults smoke every day. Conditions and habits ↓
A long-lived region
White Rock’s region sits 1.7 years above the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 22.1 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
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 6.7%. Conditions and habits ↓
A hospital close by
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as White Rock; from its centre of population the trip is 0.9 km. 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.
White Rock 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: #54 of 254 in British Columbia and #361 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.
16% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 6.7% diabetes
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 tracks the province: 23% of adults here, 25% across 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.
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
Among the 16 regions in British Columbia, from 76.6 to 86.8 years, this one is 5th.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Higher means more deprived: the bars average the quintiles of the areas White Rock’s residents live in, and none of them counts toward Health.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 1.1 km from the average home in White Rock
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is White Rock’s own, not the region’s.
From White Rock 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.
About as long-lived as regions this deprived, if slightly less
These are health regions, 102 of them, not towns: the survey and life expectancy are published that way, so the dot for White Rock’s region, on the line, stands for every town in it.
More deprivation, shorter lives: that holds across the 102 regions (correlation −0.83), and White Rock’s region fits it, 83.2 years at 2.3 against the line’s 83.4. Even beside regions as deprived, it stands out: 7 of its 10 closest matches fall short, their median 82.9 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.
Self-rated health much as in British Columbia: 50% to 50%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 51% very good or excellent against 49% for British Columbia; stress is a daily matter for 23%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
White Rock is 5th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 23,872 to 26,305 people, median 3.9 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sault-au-Récollet QC A | 25,464 | 0.7 km | 54% |
| 2 | Cartierville QC A | 24,617 | 0.8 km | 54% |
| 3 | Wellington Place ON A | 25,729 | 0.8 km | 50% |
| 4 | Beltline AB A+ | 26,171 | 0.8 km | 56% |
| 5 | White Rock BC A | 25,057 | 1.1 km | 50% |
| 6 | Malvern East ON A | 26,113 | 1.1 km | 50% |
| 7 | Westminster-Branson ON A | 26,027 | 1.1 km | 50% |
| 40 | Essex ON B− | 23,872 | 22 km | 52% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around White Rock
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Rock | 1.1 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Semiahmoo Town Centre 0.9 km | 1.2 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Sunnyside 2.6 km | 2.2 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| South Surrey 3.5 km | 3.3 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Grandview 3.7 km | 3.1 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Ocean Park 3.9 km | 4.5 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
| Douglas 4.4 km | 4.0 km | 50% | 83.2 | A |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry White Rock’s regional figures. Residents of Ocean Park live further from a hospital, at 4.5 km against 1.1 km in White Rock.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: White Rock shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. The health survey leaves out people living on reserves, full-time Canadian Forces members, people in institutions, and Nunavik and the Cree lands of James Bay.
Questions about health in White Rock
What is the life expectancy in White Rock?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 85.8 for women, 80.7 for men around White Rock (2022/2024).
How healthy is White Rock?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures beat the typical Canadian town than trail it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 15%.
How far is White Rock from a hospital?
A clinic is 1.1 km from the average resident of White Rock and a pharmacy 0.7 km, as the crow flies.
How is White Rock’s Health Grade worked out?
It will once Canada’s single grading run is done, measured on the region’s survey and life expectancy and on how far White Rock’s homes are from a hospital, against the typical Canadian town.
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).