Supplementary data: British Columbia

This page provides data visualizations related to the priorities for Canada’s cancer system.

Download the data tables and technical appendix for all indicators.

Priority 1 Action 1: Help people to stop smoking or not start in the first place and live healthier lives

Topic: Keeping people smoke-free
Title of image: Percentage of individuals (aged ≥ 12) classified as daily or occasional smokers.
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

BC: 11.1% in 2019, and 9.6% in 2021. Canada: 14.7% in 2019, and 11.8% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Keeping people smoke-free
Title of image: Percentage of males in BC (aged ≥ 18) classified as daily or occasional smokers by household income quintile
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Quintile 1: 19.2% in 2019, and 20.3% in 2021. Quintile 2: 15.3% in 2019, and 15.8% in 2021. Quintile 3: 11.8% in 2019, and 10.6% in 2021. Quintile 4: 10.7% in 2019, and 10.1% in 2021. Quintile 5: 12.8% in 2019, and 7.1% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Keeping people smoke-free
Title of image: Percentage of females in BC (aged ≥ 18) classified as daily or occasional smokers by household income quintile
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Quintile 1: 14.4% in 2019, and 11% in 2021. Quintile 2: 10.5% in 2019, and 8.5% in 2021. Quintile 3: 7.5% in 2019, and 6.8% in 2021. Quintile 4: 6.9% in 2019, and 9.4% in 2021. Quintile 5: 7.1% in 2019, and 5.9% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Keeping people smoke-free
Title of image: Percentage of males in BC (aged ≥ 18) classified as daily or occasional smokers in 2019, by highest level of education
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Less than secondary school graduation: 17% in 2019, and 15.4% in 2021. Secondary school graduation, no post-secondary education: 15.4% in 2019, and 14.7% in 2021. Post-secondary certificate/diploma or university degree: 12.8% in 2019, and 10.5% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Keeping people smoke-free
Title of image: Percentage of females in BC (aged ≥ 18) classified as daily or occasional smokers in 2019, by highest level of education
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Less than secondary school graduation: 22.6% in 2019, and 26.8% in 2021. Secondary school graduation, no post-secondary education: 10.5% in 2019, and 8.9% in 2021. Post-secondary certificate/diploma or university degree: 7.5% in 2019, and 6.6% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Maintaining healthy body weight
Title of image: Percentage of people living with obesity or overweight (aged ≥ 18)
Caveats/limitations:

  • While healthy living is an important goal for all British Columbians, it is important to note that other factors (i.e., social determinants of health) might prevent access to healthy food and safe public spaces to be active, and these factors are not evenly distributed across the population.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

BC: 60.7% in 2019, and 59.1% in 2021. Canada: 65.9% in 2019, and 64.7% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Maintaining healthy body weight
Title of image: Percentage of people living with obesity or overweight in BC (aged ≥ 18), by sex
Caveats/limitations:

  • While healthy living is an important goal for all British Columbians, it is important to note that other factors (i.e., social determinants of health) might prevent access to healthy food and safe public spaces to be active, and these factors are not evenly distributed across the population.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Males at 67.7% in 2019, and 64.6% in 2021. Females at 53.8% in 2019, and 53.6% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Maintaining healthy body weight
Title of image: Percentage of males living with obesity or overweight in BC (aged ≥ 18) by income quintile and sex
Caveats/limitations:

  • While healthy living is an important goal for all British Columbians, it is important to note that other factors (i.e., social determinants of health) might prevent access to healthy food and safe public spaces to be active, and these factors are not evenly distributed across the population.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Quintile 1: 60.5% in 2019, and 58.4% in 2021. Quintile 2: 64.3% in 2019, and 56% in 2021. Quintile 3: 68.8% in 2019, and 63.2% in 2021. Quintile 4: 70.6% in 2019, and 71.8% in 2021. Quintile 5: 73.6% in 2019, and 70.7% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Topic: Maintaining healthy body weight
Title of image: Percentage of females living with obesity or overweight in BC (aged ≥ 18) by income quintile and sex
Caveats/limitations:

  • While healthy living is an important goal for all British Columbians, it is important to note that other factors (i.e., social determinants of health) might prevent access to healthy food and safe public spaces to be active, and these factors are not evenly distributed across the population.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on the data collection operations and response rates for this survey.

Quintile 1: 50.3% in 2019, and 49% in 2021. Quintile 2: 54.4% in 2019, and 48.6% in 2021. Quintile 3: 58.2% in 2019, and 55.8% in 2021. Quintile 4: 54.5% in 2019, and 54.1% in 2021. Quintile 5: 51.7% in 2019, and 59.8% in 2021.

Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey

Priority 1 Action 2: Adopt proven practices known to reduce the risk of cancer

Topic: Increasing HPV vaccination
Title of image: Percentage of Grade 6 students who received two doses of HPV vaccination, by sex.

Males at 64.6% in 2017-2018, and 63.5% in 2018-2019. Females at 66.9% in 2017-2018, and 66.1% in 2018-2019.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Increasing genetic testing
Title of image: Percentage of patients diagnosed with breast, colorectal and ovarian cancers who were referred for and received genetic testing results within 6 months of diagnosis
Caveats/limitations:

  • Wait-times reflect waits for those patients diagnosed and referred for testing. Patients who have diagnoses but that are not referred for testing are not captured within these statistics.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Breast: 73.3% in 2019, and 76.4% in 2020. Colorectal: 35.3% in 2019, and 19.4% in 2020. Ovarian: 50.6% in 2019, and 64.8% in 2020.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 2 Action 1: Prioritize rapid access to appropriate diagnosis for those suspected of having cancer

Topic: Reducing wait for diagnosis
Title of image: Percentage of women that received their diagnosis within 5 weeks (no tissue sample) and 7 weeks (tissue sample) of their abnormal mammogram
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Non-tissue: 87.7% in 2019, and 89.2% in 2020. Tissue: 62.6% in 2019, and 68.2% in 2020.Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Proportion of stage at diagnosis in BC for lung cancer
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Stage 1: 20.4% in 2018, and 26.2% in 2019. Stage 2: 8% in 2018, and 8.9% in 2019. Stage 3: 20.8% in 2018, and 18.4% in 2019. Stage 4: 43.4% in 2018, and 39.9% in 2019. Stage Unknown or Occult: 5.9% in 2018, and 1.5% in 2019. Stage Not Available or Not Applicable: 1.4% in 2018, and 5% in 2019.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Proportion of stage at diagnosis in BC for colorectal cancer
Caveats/limitations:

  • Colorectal cancer stage information is incomplete for a moderate number of incident cases each year (19.3%) and thus these data must be interpreted with some caution.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Stage 1: 12.6% in 2018, and 18.2% in 2019. Stage 2: 21.7% in 2018, and 22.2% in 2019. Stage 3: 26.2% in 2018, and 25.5% in 2019. Stage 4: 20.2% in 2018, and 19.8% in 2019. Stage Unknown/Occult: 17.7% in 2018, and 13.6% in 2019. Stage Not Available/Not Applicable: 1.6% in 2018, and 0.6% in 2019.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Proportion of stage at diagnosis in BC in 2019 for bladder cancer

Stage 1 to 3: 38.1%. Stage 4: 4.7%. Stage In-Situ: 53.1%. Stage Not Available/Not Applicable: 0.6%. Stage Unknown/Occult: 3.6%.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Proportion of stage at diagnosis in BC in 2019 for melanoma

Stage 1 to 3: 91.9%. Stage 4: 5.5%. Stage Not Available/Not Applicable: 0%. Stage Unknown/Occult: 2.7%.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Age-standardized rate of stage 4 diagnosis in BC for lung and colorectal cancer, by sex
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Lung cancer: Males at 27.3% in 2018, and 27.4% in 2019. Females at 23% in 2018, and 22% in 2019. Colorectal cancer: Males at 11.9% in 2018, and 12% in 2019. Females at 8.8% in 2018, and 8.7% in 2019.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Diagnosing cancer earlier
Title of image: Age-standardized rate of stage 4 diagnosis in BC in 2019 for bladder and melanoma, by sex

Bladder: 1.9% for males, and 0.6% for females. Melanoma: 1.8% for males, and 0.7% for females.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 2 Action 2: Strengthen existing screening efforts and implement lung cancer screening programs across the country

Topic: Increasing participation in colorectal cancer screening
Title of image: Percentage of eligible people in BC who received colon screening using FIT
Caveats/limitations:

  • Data does not truly reflect the proportion of the eligible population that is up to date for screening due to the exclusion of select proce dures such as colonoscopies. Thus these data reflect the proportion of the eligible population who had a program FIT over this period. Data is not included for the Northern Health Authority.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

29.2% in 2016, 29.4% in 2017, 32.2% in 2018, 34.4% in 2019, 33.4% in 2020.Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Increasing participation in colorectal cancer screening
Title of image: Percentage of eligible people in BC who received colon screening using FIT in 2020, by sex
Caveats/limitations:

  • Data does not truly reflect the proportion of the eligible population that is up to date for screening due to the exclusion of select procedures such as colonoscopies. Thus these data reflect the proportion of the eligible population who had a program FIT over this period. Data is not included for the Northern Health Authority.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Overall 33.4%. Males 32.9%. Females 33.8%.Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 3 Action 1: Set best practices and standards for care delivery and promote their adoption

Topic: Implementing multidisciplinary care
Title of image: Proportion of surgeons performing rectal cancer surgery where more than two thirds of their patients are presented at a multidisciplinary care conference (MCC) in 2020
Caveats/limitations:

  • 27 surgeons, who on average performed ≥5 rectal cancer surgeries per year in 2019 & 2020, were sent the survey (a locally designed survey from the rectal cancer surgical tumour group to collect data on their MDC practices). 18 responded, giving a 67% response rate. However, respondents constituted 90% of the rectal cancer surgery volume in 2019 and 2020 for all surgeons who were sent the survey.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Surgeons wiht at least two thirds of patients presented at multidisciplinary care conference: 83.3%. Surgeons with all patients presented at multidisciplinary care conference: 55.6%.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 3 Action 2: Eliminate low-benefit practices and adopt high-value practices

Topic: Optimizing care at end of life
Title of image: Percentage of adult patients who received IV chemotherapy as an outpatient at a regional cancer centre within 14 days of death
Caveats/limitations: Includes only patients seen at BC Cancer centres. Includes only patients treated with IV chemotherapy; patients taking oral chemotherapy are excluded.

7.3% in 2015, 6.4% in 2016, 6.6% in 2017, 7.2% in 2018, 6.6% in 2019.Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 4 Action 2: Ensure rural and remote communities have the resources required to better serve their people

Topic: Increasing access to virtual care
Title of image: Percentage of patients with cancer from rural/remote communities using virtual health appointments, by fiscal year
Caveats/limitations: The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

60.5% in 2020/21. 58.6% in 2021/22.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Topic: Increasing access to virtual care
Title of image: Percentage of patients with cancer from rural/remote communities using virtual health appointments, by treatment type and travel time
Caveats/limitations:

  • Includes only individuals with valid postal codes in the BC Cancer EMR.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Treatment type: Radiation treatment: 53.8% in 2020/21, and 49% in 2021/22 Systemic treatment: 70.6% in 2020/2021, and 69.6% in 2021/2022. Other treatment: 22.9% in 2020/21 and 39.9% in 2021/22. Travel time: 1 to 2 hours: 57.2% in 2020/21, and 54.1% in 2021/22. 2 to 4 hours: 66.2% in 2020/21, and 61.5% in 2021/22. 4 hours or more: 57.5% in 2020/21, and 59.8% in 2021/2022.

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Priority 5 Action 1: Integrate the full spectrum of information and support services to ensure people are fully supported throughout the cancer experience

Topic: Improving access to shared medical records
Title of image: Ratio of physicians on-boarded onto CareConnect to the number of unique physicians with privileges in each health authority in 2021
Caveats/limitations:

  • A ratio close to 1 would be considered a target (i.e., there are similar numbers of physicians onboarded in each health authority as there are physicians with privileges).
  • Data were provided in aggregate format by provincial or regional health authority. It is possible that some physicians have privileges in two separate health authorities and are thus double counted in either the numerator or denominator.
  • Includes only physicians with privileges in one of the regional or provincial health authorities. Data excludes any physicians without privileges.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected service provision.

Overall: 0.95%

Data source: Provincial cancer agencies and programs

Download the data tables and technical appendix for all indicators.