THUNDER BAY – A new report ranks this district's general health among the worst in Canada.
A new map ranks Thunder Bay 86th of 101 health regions in the country. That puts the district and much of Northeastern Ontario on-par with Nunavut, the Yukon and rural Saskatchewan as Canada's unhealthiest populations.
Thunder Bay's cancer incidence of 443 per 100,000 was ranked 88th in Canada and the 8.1 per cent of the local population living with diabetes ranks it 76th.
The data describes more than a third of Thunder Bay residents as "obese."
One of the map's designers, Amik Motskin, said Thunder Bay is unique in that one or two factors aren't pulling its status up or down. The region has categorically poor health.
"In most of the regions coloured light orange/neutral/green, at least one or two of the health indicators are very strong compared to the rest of the country," he said.
"That is not the case for Thunder Bay. Relative to the rest of Canada, Thunder Bay's best performing indicator is asthma -- ranked 41 out of 101 -- while the rest of the indicators are ranked in the 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s.
“That suggests the health challenges in Thunder Bay are across the board."
Behind the numbers, Motskin can see social determinants of health, the environmental factors like remoteness and poverty playing common roles in communities across Canada. The study calls out Prince Albert, Sask., as the "unhealthiest place in Canada" but he said many of the social issues there exist in Thunder Bay as well.
"We really view it as a cautionary tale for the rest of Canada," he said of Prince Albert.
"Many of the issues that they face -- serious poverty, demographic challenges, food insecurity and isolated communities -- are relevant throughout the country. It's clear that these social determinants of health are real and serious, and all of Canada needs to pay closer attention."
No one at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit was available for comment.
