Life in Canada

Nova Scotia has rated poorly in a report card released today on health outcomes.

The Conference Board of Canada has looked at disease rates, obesity, infant mortality and bad habits such as smoking and a sedentary lifestyle.

Nova Scotia got a grade of "D" in the report card.

Canada health report card ranks B.C. 1st, Nunavut last

Louis Theriault is the vice president of public policy with the Conference Board of Canada.

"It's really driven by lifestyle factors. So the same messages apply for Nova Scotia as for the rest of Canada. Smoking, in fact, and in particular obesity rates are to blame for the D score that Nova Scotia gets. So working on those would go a long way in improving the overall score that Nova Scotia has," he said.

The two other provinces that also got a D rating are Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Rating even below Nova Scotia is Newfoundland and Labrador and the three Northern Territories, with a score of D-minus.

Overall, Canada has maintained it's "B" grade, ranking it 10th among 17 peer countries. Japan topped the list with an A and the U.S. ranked last with a D grade.