Health of Canadians
Glossary

Prevalence refers to the total number of cases of a particular disease or condition in a specific population at a given time. It is often expressed as a percentage or proportion and provides insight into how widespread a health issue is within that population.

Health outcomes

Excellent or very good perceived health includes respondents who answered “excellent” or “very good” to the question “In general, how is your health?” The question defines health as “not only the absence of disease or injury but also physical, mental and social well-being.”

Excellent or very good perceived mental health includes respondents who answered “excellent” or “very good” to the question “In general, how is your mental health?”

The crude birth rate is the number of live births per 1,000 population.

The total fertility rate is an estimate of the average number of live births a female can be expected to have in her lifetime, based on the age-specific fertility rates of a given year. It is presented as the sum of a single year of age-specific fertility rates divided by 1,000. The age-specific fertility rate is the number of children per 1,000 females in a specific age group.

A stillbirth is the death of a fetus at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy or weighing 500 grams or more.

Infant mortality includes deaths before the age of 1 and consists of neonatal mortality (deaths in the first 27 days of life) and post-neonatal mortality (deaths up to age 1).

Maternal mortality includes deaths from obstetric causes that occurred within one year of delivery or the end of a pregnancy. It is typically divided into mortality during two periods: (1) during pregnancy or within 42 days of delivery or the end of the pregnancy, or (2) from 42 days to one year after delivery or the end of the pregnancy.

Anxiety includes self-reported anxiety disorders such as phobia, a panic disorder or a generalized anxiety disorder that have lasted six months or more and have been diagnosed by a health care provider. Note: Beginning with the 2022 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), obsessive-compulsive disorder was excluded from anxiety disorders. In the 2023 CCHS, the question about anxiety was optional content and was asked in only five provinces (Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan). Since coverage across Canada is low, the 2023 annual estimates of anxiety are not presented.

Mood disorders include self-reported mood disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder, mania or dysthymia (chronic form of depression) that have lasted six months or more and have been diagnosed by a health care provider.

Projected age-standardized cancer incidence rates and age-standardized cancer mortality rates are standardized to the 2011 Canadian standard population. The complete definition of the specific cancers included here and details of the projection methods can be found in Appendix 1, Supplementary Table 1, available at Projected estimates of cancer in Canada in 2024.

Overweight and obesity are based on self-reported height and weight. A body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres) of 25.00 to 29.99 is classified as overweight and above 30 is classified as obese for respondents aged 18 or older. The World Health Organization thresholds by age and sex were used for respondents aged 15 to 17 to define obesity. Pregnant females were excluded. A systematic review of the literature concluded that self-reported data from adults underestimate weight and overestimate height, resulting in lower estimates of obesity than those obtained from measured data. Data from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey subsample, where both measured and self-reported height and weight were collected, were used to develop body mass index correction equations. The results in this report reflect overweight and obesity estimates adjusted using these equations.

Health behaviours

Fruit and vegetable consumption includes intake of fruits or vegetables five or more times per day. Respondents reported the frequency per day, per week or per month at which they consumed 100% pure fruit juice, fruits, dark green vegetables, orange-coloured vegetables, starchy vegetables and other vegetables. This measure does not consider the amount consumed.

Weekly alcohol consumption guidelines are provided by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. There is a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol use:

• Zero drinks per week (no risk): Not drinking has benefits such as better health and better sleep.
• Two standard drinks or less per week (low risk): You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
• Three to six standard drinks per week (moderate risk): The risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
• Seven standard drinks or more per week (increasingly high risk): The risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.

Each additional standard drink increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences. A standard drink corresponds to a certain amount of pure alcohol and is equivalent to 341 ml (12 ounces) of a 5% alcohol beer, cooler, cider or ready-to-drink beverage; or 142 ml (5 ounces) of 12% alcohol wine; or 43 ml (1.5 ounces) of 40% alcohol spirits (whisky, vodka, gin, etc.). Note: In the context of the Canadian Community Health Survey, a standard drink refers to a small bottle, draft or can of beer, cider or cooler; a glass of wine; or a cocktail or glass containing 1.5 ounces of liquor.

Risk zone percentages were based on reported alcohol consumption in the seven days prior to the date of the interview. Respondents who had never consumed any alcohol in their lifetime and respondents who had not consumed alcohol in the past year were included in the “No risk” category. Respondents were prompted to report the number of drinks consumed per day and may not have accounted for the different alcohol levels of the drinks they consumed. Note: Data on self-reported alcohol consumption indicated potential underreporting. Caution is advised when interpreting these data. For more information, see The Daily—A snapshot of alcohol consumption levels in Canada: Half of Canadian adults reported not drinking any alcohol in the past seven days, 2023.

Heavy drinking is defined as having five or more drinks for men aged 18 and older, or four or more drinks for women, on one occasion, at least once a month in the past year.

Daily smokers are those who reported smoking cigarettes every day (excluding alternative smoking products), while occasional smokers are those who reported smoking cigarettes occasionally. This includes former daily smokers who now smoke occasionally.

Vaping includes those who reported using an e-cigarette or vaping device in the past 30 days.

Cannabis use includes those who reported using cannabis daily or almost daily in the past 12 months.

Access to health care

A regular health care provider is a health professional that a person regularly consults with when they need care or advice about their health. This can include a family doctor or general practitioner, a medical specialist, a nurse practitioner, or another health care provider. Note: For the 2022 and 2023 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey, this indicator is based on the question “Which of the following health care providers do you regularly consult with?” From 2015 to 2021, the question was “Do you have a regular health care provider?”

Home care use includes those who received care services (e.g., nursing or health care, medical equipment or supplies, or help with personal care or other services such as transportation) at home because of a health condition or limitation in daily activities.

Health determinants

A population centre has a population of at least 1,000 and a population density of 400 persons or more per square kilometre, based on population counts from the current Census of Population. All areas outside population centres are classified as rural areas.

For household income, residents of each province were distributed into quintiles (five categories including approximately the same percentage of residents for each province) based on the adjusted ratio of their total household income to the low-income cut-off corresponding to their household and community size. This provides, for each respondent, a measure of their household income relative to the household incomes of all other respondents in the same province.

Sex at birth refers to sex assigned at birth. Sex at birth is typically assigned based on a person’s reproductive system and other physical characteristics.

Gender refers to an individual’s personal and social identity as a man, woman or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable (men+ and women+) is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses. In these cases, individuals in the category “non-binary people” are distributed into the other two gender categories. “Men+” includes men, as well as some non-binary people. “Women+” includes women, as well as some non-binary people. For more information on the concept of gender, see the Gender of Person Reference Guide.

Sexual orientation refers to how a person describes their sexuality. LGB+ includes people whose reported sexual orientation is lesbian, gay, bisexual or another sexual orientation that is not heterosexual. Estimates of sexual orientation are based on a survey question that includes four response categories: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual and a write-in category to specify a sexual orientation. Write-in responses of “pansexual” are included in the bisexual category. Write-in responses that specify another sexual orientation that is not heterosexual are included in the LGB+ total.

Disability refers to those who self-identify as a person with a disability.

Immigrants include people who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. They have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category, while non-permanent residents are excluded. Immigrants who were admitted to Canada in the last 10 years, or “recent immigrants,” include people who first obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status on the survey date or in the 10 years before. In 2022, for example, this category includes people who obtained landed immigrant status from 2012 to 2022. Immigrants who were admitted to Canada more than 10 years ago, or “established immigrants,” include people who first obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status more than 10 years prior to the survey date. In 2022, for example, this category includes people who obtained landed immigrant status in 2011 or before. Non-immigrants include people who are Canadian citizens by birth.

Racialized populations are based on the “visible minority” variable. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as “persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour.” The racialized population includes the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese. Note: Indigenous respondents are removed from the “non-racialized” category.

Indigenous people are those who are First Nations people, Métis or Inuit. The Constitution Act, 1982, Section 35 (2), defines “aboriginal peoples of Canada” (referred to here as Indigenous peoples) as including “the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.” First Nations people include Status and non-Status Indians.