Photo: Darren Kirby Darren Kirby · CC BY-SA 2.0Earthquakes are Metrotown’s biggest hazard: $0.36 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 12 times the norm
Fire seldom reaches Metrotown: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Metrotown a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Metrotown’s hazards
For Metrotown, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Metrotown faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Metrotown grades B for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Metrotown, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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 Metrotown: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Metrotown’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.003% of the land a year around Metrotown, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 8.6 km from Metrotown’s homes, none within 5 km.
Homes in Metrotown sit on open or built-up ground (1.2% forest fuel within 5 km); the wider 25 km holds 33%.
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
Metrotown 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Metrotown burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Metrotown
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Metrotown: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Metrotown; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Metrotown has no study, where 76% of towns in British Columbia have one against 58% nationally.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Metrotown to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
High seismic risk in Metrotown: $0.36 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.36 per $1,000, Metrotown carries roughly 12 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in British Columbia: Metrotown’s $0.36 sits by the median of $0.36, while Duncan reaches $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.
Only 4.9% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Metrotown.
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).
For Metrotown the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Burnaby
Little radon around Metrotown: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Metrotown’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
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around Metrotown it is 0%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Metrotown is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have 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.
Neighbouring homes in Metrotown can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Fraser North health region
Where to get warnings in Metrotown
Alerts for Metrotown come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Metrotown are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Metrotown
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metrotown | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Garden Village 6,492 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Royal Oak 18,364 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| South Slope 8,989 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | Yes |
| Collingwood 18,399 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Killarney 32,167 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Deer Lake 8,417 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
Garden Village burns a little more than Metrotown, 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 Metrotown faces
What to do about the hazards Metrotown 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Metrotown until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Metrotown without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Metrotown, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Metrotown’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Metrotown
How big is the earthquake risk in Metrotown?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Metrotown $0.36 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Metrotown at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Metrotown has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Metrotown?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 108 homes tested in Metrotown’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Metrotown flood?
Nothing is listed for Metrotown on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Metrotown’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Metrotown B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).