Life expectancy in B.C. Interior and North trails Metro Vancouver, StatCan finds
Richmond leads the province at 86.8 years, while Northern Health's 76.8 years is the lowest of the regional health authorities.
Sources · Vancouver Sun
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Life expectancy in British Columbia's Interior and North is lower than in Metro Vancouver, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday. The province's average for 2022 to 2024 is 82.1 years, close to its pre-pandemic level of 82.4 years in 2020.
Richmond has the highest life expectancy in the province at 86.8 years, followed by the North Shore at 84.3 years and the City of Vancouver at 83.3 years. Women in Richmond have a life expectancy of 89 years.
In the Interior, the Interior Health Authority recorded 80.2 years in 2024, while Thompson-Cariboo was at 78.8 years and East Kootenay at 79.5 years. In the North, Northern Health's average was 76.8 years, up from 76.4, and the Northern Interior was at 76.6 years. Fraser Health was at 83 years and Vancouver Coastal Health at 84.2 years.
Statistics Canada analyst Chantel Ramraj said B.C. ranks third among the provinces, behind Ontario and Quebec.
Dr. Michael Kobor of UBC's Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging said that "it's likely a combination of things like access to health care, lifestyle and community." He noted that rural areas face more challenges accessing health care and community centres than Lower Mainland cities, and that smoking, alcohol and wildfire smoke weigh on Interior and North numbers.
