Earthquakes are East Burnaby’s biggest hazard: $0.36 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 12 times the norm
Fire seldom reaches East Burnaby: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. East Burnaby grades B for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about East Burnaby’s hazards
For East Burnaby, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What East Burnaby faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
East Burnaby grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs East Burnaby’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #35 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,485 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near East Burnaby: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around East Burnaby’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), East Burnaby’s 0.003% is in the low band.
Fire has stayed at least 9.7 km from East Burnaby’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel rises from 2.7% within 5 km of East Burnaby to 32% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from homes.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in British Columbia · highest of 255
East Burnaby ranks 191st of the 255 towns in British Columbia for burn rate (0.003% a year), in the lower half; Oliver leads at 0.98%.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, East Burnaby reads low, with 92% of them; only 7.5% rank higher.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
East Burnaby is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by City of Coquitlam
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for East Burnaby: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches East Burnaby, City of Coquitlam’s from 2017, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coquitlam, Fraser, Pitt Rivers Floodplain Mapping | City of Coquitlam | 2017 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and East Burnaby is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of East Burnaby’s homes are at risk.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is East Burnaby’s costliest hazard: $0.36 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.36 per $1,000, East Burnaby carries roughly 12 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around East Burnaby runs at $0.36 a year, near the $0.36 of the typical town in British Columbia; Duncan has $1.33.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
East Burnaby is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 4.9% rank higher.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
Only shaking damage to buildings in East Burnaby is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Burnaby
Radon runs low around East Burnaby: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Fraser North health region: radon tests
East Burnaby’s area, at 0%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around East Burnaby than in most towns in British Columbia: 0% against 1.8%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around East Burnaby, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see more.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
A low area share in East Burnaby doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in East Burnaby
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for East Burnaby; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
For fires near East Burnaby, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around East Burnaby
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Burnaby | Low | $0.36 | 0% | Yes |
| New Westminster 92,124 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.43 | 0% | Yes |
| Edmonds 34,805 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Buckingham Heights 8,794 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Lake City 3,240 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Lougheed 15,442 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | Yes |
| Bainbridge 3,015 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
Lake City burns a little more than East Burnaby, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what East Burnaby faces
What to do about the hazards East Burnaby faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, East Burnaby’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in East Burnaby floods.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region East Burnaby sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against East Burnaby.
Questions about flooding and hazards in East Burnaby
Is East Burnaby at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of East Burnaby has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does East Burnaby flood?
East Burnaby’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How is East Burnaby’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives East Burnaby B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in East Burnaby?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 108 homes tested in East Burnaby’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in East Burnaby?
In NRCan’s seismic model, East Burnaby’s buildings lose $0.36 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).