HIGHLIGHTS

♦ A lower proportion of Canadians living in small town regions (non-metro-adjacent), rural regions and northern regions rated their health as “excellent”, compared to the national average. ♦ Health risk factors that are more prevalent in the non-metropolitan region population included being overweight (i.e., higher body mass index) and smoking. ♦ A lower proportion of Canadians living in northern regions reported excellent or very good functional health (based on eight factors: vision, hearing, speech, mobility, dexterity, feelings, cognition and pain). ♦ Arthritis/rheumatism was higher than the national average in rural (non-metro-adjacent) regions, and conversely, lower in major metro (central) regions even after adjusting for age. People living in northern regions had a higher prevalence of high blood pressure. No significant difference was found by region in the prevalence of diabetes. ♦ Northern regions had higher unmet health care needs compared to the national average while major metro (central) regions had lower unmet health care needs