Photo: Patricia · CC BY-SA 3.0Pond Inlet scores below almost every Canadian town for health
In the health survey, 39% of adults in the region rate their health very good or excellent, close to Nunavut’s 39%. Measured from where Pond Inlet’s residents live, a hospital is 1,053 km away on average and 100% of them are over 30 km out. The Health grade for Pond Inlet is D−.
What stands out about health in Pond Inlet
A region that smokes more
The age-standardised smoking rate around Pond Inlet is well above the typical town’s; 59% of adults are daily smokers. Conditions and habits ↓
Life expectancy below the norm
Life expectancy in the region around Pond Inlet runs 10.6 years behind the typical Canadian town’s, and at 65 people can expect 16.2 more years (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 ↓
Hospital care at a distance
Residents of Pond Inlet live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (1,051 km from its centre of population), and 100% are more than 30 km away. 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.
Pond Inlet 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%
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
On weight the region is ordinary for Nunavut: 32% report obesity, the province 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.
Life expectancy in the region: 70.9 years
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
Asked about their mental health, 43% of adults here said very good or excellent; across Nunavut it was 43%, and 15% reported most days stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
The nearest hospital is 1,053 km from the average home in Pond Inlet
Measured from where the town’s residents live, so this part is Pond Inlet’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
- Adjusted for age. Because older people report more illness, the grade uses age-standardised shares; the charts above show the unadjusted answers.
- 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. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Pond Inlet itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Pond Inlet
How healthy is Pond Inlet?
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 Pond Inlet?
For the health region that includes Pond Inlet, women can expect 72.4 years and men 69.4 (2022/2024).
How far is Pond Inlet from a hospital?
For everyday care, Pond Inlet’s residents are 1,243 km from a pharmacy and 1,703 km from a clinic on average.
How is Pond Inlet’s Health Grade worked out?
Canada’s grades haven’t been set, so Pond Inlet has none yet; when they are, Health will set its region and its hospital distance 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).