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1. Regional health indicators

The methodology used for these indicators was designed to maximize inter-regional and inter-provincial comparability given the characteristics of available national datasets. For this reason, there may be differences between definitions, data sources, and extraction procedures used in local, regional, or provincial/territorial reports when compared to those described here. In addition, discrepancies may exist due to on-going updates to databases.

Rates are standardized wherever possible to facilitate comparability across provinces/regions and over time.

Indicators in this release that are based on hospitalization records and produced by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) are limited to health regions with population greater than 75,000.

For most data sources (with the exception of Census and Demographic population estimates), health region level data are not available for some northern health regions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan which have small populations. To avoid suppression in these areas where small numbers or sample size impact on data quality, data have been grouped with neighbouring regions, as follows:

• In Manitoba, Burntwood Regional Health Authority (4680) is combined with Churchill Regional Health Authority (4690) and referred to as ‘Burntwood/Churchill (4685).’
  
• In Saskatchewan, Mamawetan Churchill River Regional Health Authority (4711) is combined with Keewatin Yatthé Regional Health Authority (4712) and Athabasca Health Authority (4713) and referred to as ‘Athabasca/Keewatin/Mamawetan (4714).

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1.1 Health region level population estimates

Population estimates for health regions were produced by Statistics Canada (Demography Division) for all provinces, except Alberta and British Columbia. Alberta population estimates from Alberta Health and Wellness and British Columbia population estimates were provided by BC Stats. See Appendix for methodology.