Photo: Unknown artist Unknown artist · Public domainSmoking runs high around Dawson: 18% of adults, the typical Canadian town 12%
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 55%; Yukon as a whole is at 55%. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.0 km from the average resident of Dawson, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Dawson grades B− for health.
What stands out about health in Dawson
Life expectancy below the norm
Dawson’s region sits 2.3 years below the typical Canadian town, and those reaching 65 have 19.3 years ahead (2014/2016). The wider area ↓
Pharmacies far off
The nearest pharmacy on OpenStreetMap is 433 km from the average home in Dawson, so prescriptions mean a drive. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Dawson grades B− 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.
Life expectancy in the region: 79.2 years
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Yukon, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2014/2016, by health region.
The nearest hospital is 1.0 km from the average home in Dawson
Straight-line distances from each part of Dawson, weighted by who lives there.
Most places are further: 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.
High blood pressure for 15% of adults in the region, diabetes for 6.1%
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
Self-reported obesity, 26%, sits within a few points of Yukon (26%).
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Self-rated health much as in Yukon: 55% to 55%
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
Mental wellbeing sits at the provincial level, 51% very good or excellent against 51% for Yukon; stress is a daily matter for 21%.
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
- Adjusted for age. Self-rated health, chronic conditions and smoking enter the grade adjusted to Canada’s adult age mix, though the survey block prints them as people answered.
- 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. A “hospital” here is whatever the provinces listed as one in Statistics Canada’s database, which can mean a site without an emergency department.
- Regional figures. The survey figures and life expectancy are published for the health region, so every town in it shares them and only the distances are Dawson’s own.
- 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.
Questions about health in Dawson
How is Dawson’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Dawson: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
What is the life expectancy in Dawson?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 81.8 for women, 76.5 for men around Dawson (2014/2016).
How healthy is Dawson?
Taken together the region leans healthier than the typical Canadian town, but the picture is mixed. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Dawson from a hospital?
Residents of Dawson have a clinic 1.0 km away on average and a pharmacy 433 km away, in straight lines.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2014/2016 (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).