Photo: Globalphotobank · CC BY-SA 4.0People in Williams Lake’s health region live to 78.8 on average, 2.7 years short of the typical Canadian town
In the health survey, 48% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, fewer than British Columbia’s 50%. What sets Williams Lake apart within its region is a short trip to hospital, 1.7 km for the average resident (3.7 km typical). Health gives Williams Lake a grade of C+, #207 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,105 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Williams Lake
Below the trend for its deprivation
At 78.8 years, Williams Lake’s region trails the 80.5 that regions scoring 3.1 on the index typically reach. For its deprivation ↓
Deprivation runs high
With a situational-vulnerability score of 4.3 out of 5, Williams Lake sits in the index’s harder-pressed areas. The wider area ↓
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.
Williams Lake grades C+ 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: #207 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,105 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.
Behind regions as deprived by 1.7 years of life
Regions, not towns, with every town in a region sharing its dot: of the 102, the marked one, Williams Lake’s, lies beneath the trend.
The trend through 102 regions (correlation −0.83) gives a region scored 3.1 about 80.5 years of life. Williams Lake’s region falls short of it, at 78.8. Against the 10 regions with the nearest deprivation scores, all live longer; the middle of the group is 80.9 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.
Longest and shortest lives among the 16 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
This region is 13th longest-lived of 16 in British Columbia, on a scale from 76.6 to 86.8 years.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
The index is context and never graded: it describes Williams Lake’s own areas, averaged over residents, on each of its four dimensions.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.2%
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
At 33%, self-reported obesity is above British Columbia’s 25%. Heavy drinking is commoner too (22% against 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.
Getting to hospital from Williams Lake: 1.7 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Williams Lake’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, Williams Lake 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.
47% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in 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
Mental health looks better than in the province too: 52% rate it very good or excellent, against 49% in British Columbia, and 23% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Williams Lake is 12th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 11,276 to 11,632 people, median 2.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milton-Parc QC A | 11,369 | 0.2 km | 54% |
| 2 | New Toronto ON A | 11,502 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 3 | Banff AB A+ | 11,402 | 0.9 km | 56% |
| 10 | Carson Grove - Carson Meadows ON A+ | 11,290 | 1.6 km | 56% |
| 11 | Norquay Village BC A+ | 11,287 | 1.6 km | 50% |
| 12 | Williams Lake BC C+ | 11,462 | 1.7 km | 48% |
| 13 | William Whyte MB B+ | 11,432 | 1.7 km | 52% |
| 14 | Selkirk MB C | 11,570 | 1.9 km | 50% |
| 40 | Farnham QC A− | 11,315 | 20 km | 57% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Williams Lake
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Lake | 1.7 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
| Electoral Area D, Cariboo 6.4 km | 12 km | 48% | 78.8 | C |
| Electoral Area E, Cariboo 6.8 km | 9.3 km | 48% | 78.8 | C+ |
Same region, same survey: Williams Lake’s neighbours differ only in how far they are from a hospital. Residents of Electoral Area D, Cariboo live further from a hospital, at 12 km against 1.7 km in Williams Lake.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Williams Lake shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- 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 Williams Lake
How is Williams Lake’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Williams Lake’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
What is the life expectancy in Williams Lake?
Women in Williams Lake’s region live to 81.8 on average and men to 76.0, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
How healthy is Williams Lake?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 18%.
How far is Williams Lake from a hospital?
A clinic is 1.9 km from the average resident of Williams Lake and a pharmacy 2.0 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).