Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0Life expectancy around Hay River is 76.4 years, 5.1 less than for the typical Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 43%; the Northwest Territories as a whole is at 43%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 2.4 km from the average resident of Hay River, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Health gives Hay River a grade of C−, #2,403 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Hay River
Smoking runs high
The age-standardised smoking rate around Hay River is well above the typical town’s; 20% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Fewer people feeling well
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 ↓
No pharmacy close by
Picking up a prescription in Hay River takes a trip of 197 km on average to the nearest mapped pharmacy. 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.
Hay River 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: #2,403 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.
17% of the region’s adults have high blood pressure and 8.1% 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
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.
44% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to the Northwest Territories (44%)
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 is close to the province’s: 46% rate it very good or excellent, against 46% in the Northwest Territories, 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.
The nearest hospital is 2.4 km from the average home in Hay River
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Hay River’s own, not the region’s.
That is nearer than 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.
One region, one figure: 76.4 years of life
Regional life expectancy in the Northwest Territories, then the town’s place on the national deprivation index.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Hay River is 11th of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
Ordered by residents’ distance to a hospital: 40 Canadian towns of 3,264 to 3,361 people, median 7.4 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rankin Inlet NU D | 3,336 | 0.5 km | 39% |
| 2 | Miller AB B+ | 3,294 | 0.8 km | 51% |
| 3 | Virden MB B− | 3,322 | 1.1 km | 51% |
| 9 | Westwood AB B+ | 3,279 | 1.7 km | 51% |
| 10 | Greeningdon ON B | 3,296 | 2.0 km | 53% |
| 11 | Hay River NT C− | 3,317 | 2.4 km | 43% |
| 12 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska QC A | 3,307 | 3.0 km | 61% |
| 13 | Bulyea Heights AB B | 3,264 | 3.0 km | 51% |
| 40 | Arviat NU D− | 3,330 | 216 km | 39% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Hay River shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
Questions about health in Hay River
What is the life expectancy in Hay River?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 79.4 for women, 73.9 for men around Hay River (2022/2024).
How healthy is Hay River?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures trail the typical Canadian town than beat it. Its chronic-condition figure, age-standardised, is 17%.
How is Hay River’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Hay River: 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 Hay River from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Hay River is 233 km from a clinic and 197 km from a pharmacy.
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).