Photo: D&J Huber from Canada · CC BY 2.0Earthquake risk in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley runs 17 times the typical Canadian town’s: $0.52 per $1,000 a year
Burn scars are few around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). Radon is lower than usual: 0.9% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s hazards
For Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley grades B− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #126 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,641 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.
Few fires near Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Past fire around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley is 0.004%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 7.9 km away.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley: 68% within 5 km and 72% 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 tops the 255 towns in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, at 0.004%, comes 144th.
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, Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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.
A flood study covers Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, from Capital Regional District: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Capital Regional District holds the flood mapping that covers Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley (2021), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Regional Coastal Flood Inundation Mapping Project | Capital Regional District | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley with 76% of towns in British Columbia; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley.
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 Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley $0.52 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley loses $0.52, 17.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year; Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley expects $0.52, and Duncan $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.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns face more earthquake damage than Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley: 1.1% of them.
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 Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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).
Little radon around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley: 0.9% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Central Vancouver Island health region: radon tests
At 0.9% over the guideline, the area around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley than in most towns in British Columbia: 0.9% against 1.8%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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.
Whatever Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley
Alerts for Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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 Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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)
How Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley | Low | $0.52 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Ladysmith 9,926 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.74 | 0.9% | None listed |
| Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley 2,761 · 9.4 km | Low | $0.55 | 0.9% | None listed |
| North Cowichan 34,525 · 17 km | Low | $0.76 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Nanaimo 7,825 · 17 km | Low | $0.54 | 0.9% | Yes |
The fire record around Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley is a touch heavier than Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley 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 Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley
How is Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley?
Around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley, 109 survey homes were tested and 0.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley flood?
Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Electoral Area G, Cowichan Valley $0.52 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).