Canada

Health: what’s up, doc?

Canada Day Special 2010

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Where you live affects your well-being, say experts. In fact, those in Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods are 37 per cent more likely to suffer a heart attack than those in affluent areas.

Canada Day Special

HIGHEST
LOWEST
Life expectancy in years – Women
B.C.: 84 Nfld.: 81
Life expectancy in years – Men
Ontario and B.C.: 79 Nfld.: 76
Do you have a family doctor?
B.C.: 94% Quebec: 75%
Cancer incidences rate per 100,000 population – Women
Nova Scotia: 388 Nfld.: 313
Cancer incidences rate per 100,000 population – Men
Nova Scotia: 550 B.C.: 418
Obesity % of household adult population
Newfoundland: 27.4% B.C.: 13.5%
Daily smokers % of population
Newfoundland: 18.5% B.C.: 12.3%
Heart attacks needing hospitalization rate per 100,000 population
Newfoundland: 347 B.C.: 169
Source: life expectancy (at birth, 2005-07): StatsCan; family doctor (June 2009): Harris/Decima poll; cancer estimates (2008): Public Health Agency of Canada; obesity (aged 18+, 2008), smoking (aged 12+, 2009): StatsCan’s Canadian Community Health Survey; heart attacks (age standardized, 2008): Canadian Institute for Health Information

The full province-by-province breakdown:

Life expectancy, women
B.C. 84
Alberta 83
P.E.I. 83
Quebec 83
New Brunswick 83
Ontario 83
Manitoba 82
Saskatchewan 82
Nova Scotia 82
Newfoundland and Labrador 81
Life expectancy, men
B.C. 79
Ontario 79
Alberta 78
P.E.I. 78
Quebec 78
Manitoba 77
New Brunswick 77
Nova Scotia 77
Saskatchewan 77
Newfoundland and Labrador 76
Do you have a family doctor?
B.C. 94%
Ontario 92%
Atlantic provinces 91%
Alberta 87%
Manitoba/Saskatchewan 82%
Quebec 75%
Cancer incidences – women (rate per 100,000 population)
Newfoundland and Labrador 312.8
B.C. 322.1
Saskatchewan 342.1
Ontario 362
New Brunswick 366.3
P.E.I. 369.2
Quebec 371.5
Alberta 378.9
Manitoba 382.6
Nova Scotia 387.8
Cancer incidences – men (rate per 100,000 population)
B.C. 418
Newfoundland and Labrador 433.9
Ontario 459.1
Saskatchewan 465.9
Quebec 479.5
Manitoba 483.8
New Brunswick 499.2
Alberta 513.2
P.E.I. 535.9
Nova Scotia 550
Obesity (% of household population)
B.C. 13.5
Quebec 15.5
Ontario 17.1
Alberta 18.3
Manitoba 20.3
New Brunswick 23.5
P.E.I. 23.9
Nova Scotia 24.8
Saskatchewan 25.6
Newfoundland and Labrador 27.4
Daily smokers (% of total population)
B.C. 12.3%
Manitoba 14.1%
Ontario 14.4%
P.E.I. 15.3%
Saskatchewan 17.2%
Quebec 17.4%
New Brunskwick 17.9%
Alberta 17.9%
Nova Scotia 18.3%
Newfoundland and Labrador 18.5%
Heart attacks needing hospitalization (rate per 100,000 population)
B.C. 169
Alberta 205
Ontario 216
Quebec 221
Saskatchewan 228
Manitoba 255
Nova Scotia 264
New Brunswick 269
P.E.I. 294
Newfoundland and Labrador 347

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