Photo: BaShildy . · CC BY 3.0Health in Igloolik trails almost every Canadian town
In the health survey, 39% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Nunavut’s 39%. For Igloolik itself, the measure is access: 855 km to the nearest hospital on average, with 100% of homes beyond 30 km. Igloolik grades D− for health.
What stands out about health in Igloolik
A region that smokes more
The age-standardised smoking rate around Igloolik is well above the typical town’s; 59% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Igloolik’s region sits 10.6 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 16.2 years ahead (2022/2024). The wider area ↓
Self-rated health runs low
The survey’s age-standardised figure sits 12.4 points under the typical Canadian town’s, and 42% answered very good or excellent. Health survey ↓
Far from a hospital
Residents of Igloolik live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (855 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Igloolik 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 18% of adults in the region, diabetes for 5%
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
Obesity tracks the province: 32% of adults here, 32% across Nunavut.
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.
One region, one figure: 70.9 years of life
Regional life expectancy in Nunavut, 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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Nunavut: 42% and 42%
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
On mental health the region tracks Nunavut, 43% very good or excellent to 43%; 15% describe most days as quite a bit stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Getting to hospital from Igloolik: 855 km on average
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Igloolik’s own, not the region’s.
That is further 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Igloolik alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
Questions about health in Igloolik
How healthy is Igloolik?
All four of the region’s figures sit on the less healthy side of the typical Canadian town’s. Chronic conditions there average 20% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
What is the life expectancy in Igloolik?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 72.4 for women, 69.4 for men around Igloolik (2022/2024).
How far is Igloolik from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Igloolik live: 1,318 km to a clinic, 862 km to a pharmacy.
How is Igloolik’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 Igloolik’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). 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).