Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) or How not to die early
Life expectancy and health adjusted life expectancy (HALE) are two important measures of population health in Canada. While both indicators have shown improvements over time, there are notable differences between them that provide insights into the overall health and quality of life of Canadians.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy at birth in Canada has seen significant increases over the past century. In 1900 it was around 50 years. Globally life expectancy at birth in 1900 was around 32 years! We have made enormous strides in life expectancy since then. As of 2022, the average life expectancy for Canadians was approximately 82 years, with women living longer than men[1][2].
Specifically:
- For men in Canada: Life Expectancy is 79.9 years
- For women Canada: Life Expectancy is 84.0 years
These figures place Canada among some of the top countries globally for life expectancy, ranking 20th according to the World Health Organization[1].
Regional variations do exist within Canada, with provinces like British Columbia and Ontario having higher life expectancies (mid-80s) compared to territories such as Nunavut, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories (low to mid-70s)[1].
Health Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE)
While life expectancy measures the average number of years a person is expected to live, HALE or the Health Adjusted Life Expectancy focuses on the number of years an individual is expected to live in good health and without disability. As of 2015-2017, the HALE in Canada was reported as: Overall: 69.7 years[4]
This means that while Canadians may live to be around 82 years old on average, they can expect to live only about 70 of those years in good health [1][4]. If you look at the average age of retirement in Canada being 65 years, that means that, on average Canadians will only have about 5 years of disability free life after retirement begins before something negatively affects their overall health. As HALE is the same for women and men in Canada at 69 years. It also means that women will live with a life affecting disability for approximately the last 15 years of their lives while men will live with a life affecting disability on average for the last 11 years of their lives. This has profound implications.
Contrasting Life Expectancy and Health Adjusted Life Expectancy
The gap between life expectancy and HALE in Canada is 14 years for women and 11 years for men. This difference highlights several important points:
1. Quality vs. Quantity: While medical advancements have extended life spans, not all of these additional years are spent in good health. This needs to change. We need to start focusing on a Healthy Life Expectancy as opposed to just looking at Life expectancy.
2. Burden of Chronic Diseases: The discrepancy between life expectancy and HALE reflects the impact of chronic diseases and disabilities on Canadians' quality of life in later years. With most of the diseases of chronic disease having some aspect of lifestyle influencing them we know they are changeable.
3. Genetics: We now know that genetics plays somewhere between 15 and 30% in the study of longevity in humans. This is actually great news! This means that about 75 to 80% of life span, therefore, is controlled by what we do. Control of your healthy life span is largely in your hands. This can influence both how long we live and how healthy we live.
4. Healthcare Challenges: The gap underscores the need for healthcare systems to focus not only on extending life but also on improving overall health and well-being throughout the lifespan. This is difficult as the Canadian system has been developed to be a reactive system and not a proactive system. It is for this reason that many people look to Functional Medicine Specialist or healthcare providers that straddle the conventional and complimentary health systems. This is what we do at Transform Men’s Health.
5. Socioeconomic Factors: Both life expectancy and HALE are influenced by socioeconomic determinants of health, including income, education, and access to healthcare services [1][3]. Education which influences the other two factors is exceedingly important. Education allows for higher income and more robust choices in work related activities.
Trends and Implications
While life expectancy in Canada has generally been increasing, recent years have seen some fluctuations:
1. Life expectancy dropped for three consecutive years starting in 2020, partially due to increased deaths from COVID-19[1]. This will likely rebound with time.
2. HALE has shown modest improvements, increasing from 68.5 years in 2000 to 69.7 years in 2015-2017[4][8]. This needs further investigation and support to bring it closer to the overall life expectancy numbers that we see in Canada.
These trends highlight the ongoing challenges in improving both the length and quality of life for Canadians. Public health initiatives, healthcare policies, and individual lifestyle choices all play crucial roles in bridging the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Of these parameters, individual lifestyle changes and choices are the most important.
As you can see from above. Every one of the Top Ten Causes of Death in Men in Canada are at least partially influenced by lifestyle choices and are therefore improvable with changes.
We can change these numbers by:
1. Improving Diet (Food as Medicine)
2. More and Targeted Exercise (Movement as Medicine)
3. Restorative Sleep (Sleep as Medicine)
4. Optimizing Hormone levels (Hormonal Health)
5. Appropriate and Targeted Supplements
6. Learning how to Deal with Stress
7. Having a Life Purpose (Living Life with Value and Meaning)
8. Maximizing your Social Connections
9. Screening Tests (Screen for the things most likely to kill you)
10. Stopping the Shit that is harming our health
So while Canadians enjoy a relatively high life expectancy compared to many other countries in the world, the focus on health adjusted life expectancy or HALE reveals major areas for improvement in ensuring that increased longevity is accompanied with both good health and an improved quality of life. The great news is that much of this is well within our control. It is very important to know what you do in your 30’s, 40’s and 50’s will play a huge roll in how you live your 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Optimize your Health and Transform your Life!
Sources
[1] Life Expectancy in Canada - NICE Information Tool https://www.nicenet.ca/articles/life-expectancy-in-canada
[2] What is the Life Expectancy In Canada? - https://www.cpp.ca/blog/what-is-the-life-expectancy-in-canada/
[3] Public Health Agency of Canada 2024-25 Departmental Plan https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/transparency/corporate-management-reporting/reports-plans-priorities/2024-2025-corporate-information.html
[4] Quality of life indicator: Health-adjusted life expectancy https://www160.statcan.gc.ca/health-sante/expectancy-esperance-eng.htm
[5] Life Expectancy at Birth · CIHI - Your Health System https://yourhealthsystem.cihi.ca/hsp/inbrief?lang=en
[6] Life expectancy at various ages, by population group and sex, Canada https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310013401
[7] Candidates of the 2025 Canadian federal election - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2025_Canadian_federal_election_by_riding
[8] Canada - WHO Data https://data.who.int/countries/124
[9] Health-adjusted life expectancy, by sex - Statistique Canada https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310037001
[10] Life expectancy and Healthy life expectancy https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-life-expectancy-and-healthy-life-expectancy
[11] John Hale | People | GeoIgnite 2025 https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/gogeomatics/en/geoignite-2025/people/5991/John%20Hale
[12] Life Expectancy by Country and in the World (2025) - Worldometer https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/
[13] Norine Hale: BCI recognized for six consecutive years as one of ... https://www.bci.ca/norine-hale-bci-recognized-for-six-consecutive-years-as-one-of-canadas-top-100-employers/
[14] Life Expectancy at Birth · CIHI - Your Health System https://yourhealthsystem.cihi.ca/hsp/inbrief
[15] Canada - Life Expectancy At Birth, Male (years) - Trading Economics https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/life-expectancy-at-birth-male-years-wb-data.html
[16] Life expectancy at birth and at age 65, by province and territory ... https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310040901
[17] Government of Canada to make announcement concerning Jeffery ... https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2025/01/government-of-canada-to-make-announcement-concerning-jeffery-hale-community-partners-in-quebec.html
[18] The Government of Canada supports the acquisition and renovation ... https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2025/01/the-government-of-canada-supports-the-acquisition-and-renovation-of-mary-gillespie-house.html
[19] Health Matters: Life expectancy rose to 81.7 years in 2023, Statistics ... https://globalnews.ca/video/10901958/health-matters-life-expectancy-rose-to-81-7-years-in-2023-statistics-canada-report-says
[20] Impact of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan on Canada's ... https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/additional-analyses--analyses-complementaires/BLOG-2425-006--impact-2025-2027-immigration-levels-plan-canada-housing-gap--repercussions-plan-niveaux-immigration-2025-2027-ecart-offre-logement-canada
[21] [PDF] Hale-John-LAWS-2302-E-Outline-Winter-2025.pdf https://carleton.ca/law/wp-content/uploads/Hale-John-LAWS-2302-E-Outline-Winter-2025.pdf