Photo: Northern Pix - https://www.flickr.com/people/northernpix/ · CC BY 2.0Health in Kugaaruk 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%. Closer to home, a hospital is 613 km from the average resident of Kugaaruk, and 100% live more than 30 km away. The Health grade for Kugaaruk is D−.
What stands out about health in Kugaaruk
A region that smokes more
Around Kugaaruk, 59% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Kugaaruk’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 ↓
Less upbeat about their health
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 ↓
A long way to hospital
Distance is Kugaaruk’s own health question: 100% of residents live beyond 30 km of a hospital, and the trip from its centre is 613 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.
Kugaaruk 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (18%) and diabetes (5%)
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
Self-reported obesity, 32%, sits within a few points of Nunavut (32%).
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.
42% in the region call their health very good or excellent, close to Nunavut (42%)
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, 43% very good or excellent against 43% for Nunavut; stress is a daily matter for 15%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 613 km from the average home in Kugaaruk
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Kugaaruk’s own, not the region’s.
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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
- Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Kugaaruk alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
- 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.
Questions about health in Kugaaruk
How healthy is Kugaaruk?
On every regional measure, the region does worse than the typical Canadian town. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 20%.
What is the life expectancy in Kugaaruk?
Statistics Canada publishes it for Kugaaruk’s health region only: 72.4 years for women and 69.4 for men (2022/2024).
How far is Kugaaruk from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Kugaaruk live: 1,106 km to a clinic, 644 km to a pharmacy.
How is Kugaaruk’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 Kugaaruk’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).