Photo: David Adamec · Public domainOn health, Behchokò falls short of 97% of Canadian towns
On self-rated health the region tracks the province: 43% very good or excellent, 43% for the Northwest Territories. What sets Behchokò apart within its region is distance: 93 km to a hospital on average, over 30 km for 100% of residents. The Health grade for Behchokò is D−.
What stands out about health in Behchokò
A region that smokes more
Around Behchokò, 20% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
A region where lives run shorter
Behchokò’s region sits 5.1 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 18.7 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Far from a hospital
Residents of Behchokò live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (94 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Self-rated health runs low
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 8.5 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 44% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
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.
Behchokò grades D− 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.
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 17% of adults in the region, diabetes for 8.1%
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
About as many adults report obesity as across the Northwest Territories: 44%, the province 44%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
One region, one figure: 76.4 years of life
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in the Northwest Territories, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Getting to hospital from Behchokò: 93 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Behchokò, weighted by who lives there.
Most places are nearer: 3.7 km for 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 many rate their health highly here as in the Northwest Territories: 44% and 44%
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
For 23% of adults most days are quite a bit stressful, and 46% rate their mental health very good or excellent, near the Northwest Territories’s 46%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
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: Behchokò shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
Questions about health in Behchokò
What is the life expectancy in Behchokò?
There is no figure for Behchokò alone; its health region’s is 79.4 for women and 73.9 for men in 2022/2024.
How far is Behchokò from a hospital?
For everyday care, Behchokò’s residents are 93 km from a pharmacy and 294 km from a clinic on average.
How healthy is Behchokò?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 17%.
How is Behchokò’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Behchokò’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
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). 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).