Photo: Susan Drury from Watson Lake, Canada · CC BY 2.018% of adults smoke in the health region around Watson Lake, against 12% for the typical Canadian town
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 55%; Yukon as a whole is at 55%. Measured from where Watson Lake’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 0.7 km away, under the typical 3.7 km. The Health grade for Watson Lake is B−.
What stands out about health in Watson Lake
A region where lives run shorter
Born around Watson Lake, a child can expect 2.3 fewer years than in the typical Canadian town’s region; at 65, another 19.3 (2014/2016). The wider area ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Watson Lake 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.
In the region, high blood pressure (15%) and diabetes (6.1%)
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 Yukon: 26% report obesity, the province 26%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
From Watson Lake, a hospital is 0.7 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Watson Lake, 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.
About as many rate their health highly here as in Yukon: 55% and 55%
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, 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Regional figures. Every place in the health region carries the same survey and life-expectancy figures; what is measured for Watson Lake itself is the trip to care.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about health in Watson Lake
What is the life expectancy in Watson Lake?
Life expectancy comes by health region: 81.8 for women, 76.5 for men around Watson Lake (2014/2016).
How healthy is Watson Lake?
Most of the region’s figures sit on the healthier side of the typical Canadian town’s, though not all. Chronic conditions there average 15% across arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
How far is Watson Lake from a hospital?
In a straight line from where people in Watson Lake live: 0.9 km to a clinic, 0.9 km to a pharmacy.
How is Watson Lake’s Health Grade worked out?
Not so far; the grade arrives with Canada’s grading run and will set the region’s figures, plus Watson Lake’s own distance to care, against the typical Canadian town.
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).