Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Central Okanagan faces more hazards than 96% of Canadian towns
With 0.31% of the land around it burning each year, Central Okanagan sits in the high wildfire band (12% within 25 km since 1986). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is higher than usual: 17% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Central Okanagan grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Central Okanagan’s hazards
For Central Okanagan, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Central Okanagan faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Central Okanagan: D−
Seismic risk and radon set Central Okanagan’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #231 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,546 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Fire country: 12% of the land within 25 km of Central Okanagan has burned since 1986, 1.9% within 5 km
Past fire around Central Okanagan’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.31% of the land a year, Central Okanagan’s burn rate is high, many times the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
55% of the land within 5 km of Central Okanagan is forest fuel, close to the 59% within 25 km.
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
Oliver burns fastest in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Central Okanagan, at 0.31%, ranks 24th of 255.
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.
High is rare: 1.9% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Central Okanagan among them, with 0.2% higher still.
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.
2 flood studies cover Central Okanagan, the newest from Okanagan Basin Water Board
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Central Okanagan: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Central Okanagan, the newest Okanagan Basin Water Board’s from 2020, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
| Kelowna Mill Creek | City of Kelowna | 2010 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Central Okanagan has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Central Okanagan between the 2010s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Central Okanagan.
Flood mapping is shown for Central Okanagan 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Central Okanagan just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Central Okanagan it is only $0.013, 0.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Central Okanagan’s $0.013 against a median of $0.36; 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.
75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Central Okanagan.
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 Central Okanagan 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).
17% of homes tested around Central Okanagan are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Okanagan health region: radon tests
More homes than usual test high around Central Okanagan: 17% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Central Okanagan (17%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%); 2.8% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Central Okanagan among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Central Okanagan’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Central Okanagan
Alerts for Central Okanagan 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. |
Evacuation orders for Central Okanagan come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Central Okanagan
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Okanagan | High | $0.013 | 17% | Yes |
| Kelowna 167,654 · 9.0 km | High | $0.024 | 17% | Yes |
| Duck Lake 7 2,091 · 9.6 km | High | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
| Lake Country 17,637 · 14 km | High | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Tsinstikeptum 10 2,081 · 15 km | Moderate | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
Fire is heaviest around Tsinstikeptum 10 (moderate), against high for Central Okanagan.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Central Okanagan faces
Practical steps for Central Okanagan’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Central Okanagan.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Central Okanagan takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Central Okanagan’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Central Okanagan.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Central Okanagan
Does Central Okanagan flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Central Okanagan; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Central Okanagan?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Central Okanagan’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Central Okanagan?
The area’s survey found 17% of 109 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Central Okanagan.
Is Central Okanagan at risk of wildfire?
Wildfire is Central Okanagan’s main hazard, band high: 12% of the land within 25 km burned between 1986 and 2025.
How is Central Okanagan’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Central Okanagan grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).