Archived - Life expectancy at birth and at age 65, by province and territory, three-year average^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Vital Statistics, Death Database and Demography Division (population estimates). The CANSIM table 102-4307 is an update of CANSIM table 102-0218. The CANSIM table 102-4307 is now archived. More recent data are in CANSIM table 102-4308.

Life expectancy is the number of years a person would be expected to live, starting from birth (for life expectancy at birth) and similarly for other age groups, if the age- and sex-specific mortality rates for a given observation period (such as a calendar year) were held constant over the estimated life span.

In this table, the calculation of life expectancy is based on three consecutive years of death data and population estimates.

Life expectancy is calculated with Greville's method for abridged life tables (Greville, TNE., "United States Life Tables and Actuarial Tables, 1939-1941", Public Health Service, Washington, 1946).

Rates used in this table for the calculation of life expectancy are calculated with data that exclude: births to mothers not resident in Canada; births to mothers resident in Canada, province or territory of residence unknown; deaths of non-residents of Canada; deaths of residents of Canada whose province or territory of residence was unknown; deaths for which age or sex of decedent was unknown.

Rates used for the calculation of life expectancy in this table are based on data tabulated by place of residence.

The 95% confidence interval (CI) illustrates the degree of variability associated with a number.

Wide confidence intervals (CIs) indicate high variability, thus, these numbers or rates should be interpreted and compared with due caution.

The following standard symbols are used in this Statistics Canada table: (..) for figures not available for a specific reference period, (...) for figures not applicable and (x) for figures suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.

For small populations (less than 25,000), life expectancy is shown with an 'E' (use with caution) to indicate that the quality of the estimates are more affected by the imputation method used when there are no deaths for a given age group.

Health regions are administrative areas defined by provincial ministries of health according to provincial legislation. The health regions presented in this table are based on boundaries and names in effect as of October 2011. For complete Canadian coverage, each northern territory represents a health region.

Peer groups are aggregations of health regions that share similar socio-economic and demographic characteristics, based on 2006 Census data. These are useful in the analysis of health regions, where important differences may be detected by comparing health regions within a peer group. The ten peer groups are identified by the letters A through J, which are appended to the health region 4-digit code. Caution should be taken when comparing data for the peer groups over time due to changes in the peer groups. For more information on the peer groups classification, consult Statistics Canada's publication "Health Indicators" (catalogue number 82-221-XWE).

Prince Edward Island restructured and collapsed the four administrative areas into one in November 2005. As of May 2012, data for Prince Edward Island are disseminated at the provincial level only.

Minor name changes have been made to Nova Scotia health regions. For example, Zone 1 is now called South Shore/South West Nova while DHA 9 is now referred to as the Capital District Health Authority. For more information consult Statistics Canada's publication Health Regions: Boundaries and Correspondence with Census Geography" (catalogue number 82-402-XWE).

The province of New Brunswick has made minor name changes to its health regions. 'Regions' are now referred to as 'Zones'. In addition, a descriptive name for each Zone has been added. For example, Zone 1 will now be referred to as ¿Zone 1 (Moncton)'. In February 2006 a small boundary change in New Brunswick occurred: Cambridge-Narrows village (population 717) was reassigned from Region 2 to Region 3. For more information consult Statistics Canada's publication "Health Regions: Boundaries and Correspondence with Census Geography" (catalogue number 82-402-XWE).

In Ontario, Public Health Units (PHU) administer health promotion and disease prevention programs. Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) are responsible for planning, funding and administering health care programs and services across the province. Data are provided for both PHUs and LHINs. However, since the weights for the Canadian Community Health Survey sample are primarily based on PHUs, only estimates for rates (percentages) are available by LHIN in the profile. Special LHIN weights are available upon request. These weights will allow for more precise estimation at the LHIN level including the estimation of totals.

In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, health regions are referred to as Health Authorities (HA) or Regional Health Authorities (RHA).

As of Fall 2011, Alberta data are disseminated at five new Zone levels. They were approved for use in November 2010 in Alberta by the Joint Alberta Health Services - Alberta Health and Wellness Geographies Committee and are aggregations of the previous nine Regional Health Authorities. For more information consult Statistics Canada's publication 'Health Regions: Boundaries and Correspondence with Census Geography' (catalogue number 82-402-XWE).