VANCOUVER -- If you're feeling a bit left out leading up to Valentine's Day, take heart -- you're not alone.

Preliminary results from a Metro Vancouver health survey find that 15 per cent of 9,000 respondents said social isolation adds to their stress. And about half of those are recent immigrants who have arrived in the last five years, according to news release issued Thursday.

"If you extrapolate this to the larger population we could be looking at more than 300,000 people in Metro Vancouver having to deal with social isolation," Dr. James Lu, medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, said in the release. "This means there could be a significant number of individuals who have no people in their network to confide in. It appears that zero is actually the loneliest number."

The survey called My Health My Community was launched last year by Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and the University of British Columbia's eHealth Strategy Office. Organizers hoped to get responses from up to 50,000 people in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, and Central Coast.

"The more people who complete the survey, the more accurate it will be," says Lu. "Initiatives such as community gardens, adult day programs and childcare services all contribute to positive social experiences and a feeling of belonging."

The survey asks people to provide information about their health, lifestyle and neighbourhood which will help health authorities design their policies and programs.

It can be completed at www.myhealthmycommunity.org until the end of March 2014.