Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainElectoral Area I, Cowichan Valley has one of Canada’s highest earthquake risks: $0.54 a year per $1,000, 18 times the typical town’s
Burn scars are few around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, with 0.3% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.007% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley: B−
Two inputs always count for Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley: 0% within 5 km, 0.3% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.007% of the land a year around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 5.6 km away.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley: 81% within 5 km and 84% 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 256
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley sits mid-table in British Columbia: 109th of 256 towns, at 0.007% a year, well behind Oliver (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 Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley 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.
A flood study covers Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, from Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy’s from 1984, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowichan Lake Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1984 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia: 76% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Electoral Area I, 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 I, Cowichan Valley $0.54 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.54 per $1,000, Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley carries roughly 18.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s $0.54 tops the median in British Columbia, $0.36, though 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.
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 1% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
0.9% of homes tested around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Central Vancouver Island health region
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s survey area reads 0.9% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley it is 0.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Electoral Area I, 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.
One home in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley; 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 Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley, 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 Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley | Low | $0.54 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Lake Cowichan 3,757 · 12 km | Low | $0.85 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Cowichan Valley 1,837 · 17 km | Low | $0.59 | 0.9% | Yes |
The fire record around Lake Cowichan is a touch heavier than Electoral Area I, 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 I, Cowichan Valley faces
What to do about the hazards Electoral Area I, 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
- 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 Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley
How is Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0.9% of 109 homes tested in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.3% of the land within 25 km of Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley?
Expected earthquake damage in Electoral Area I, Cowichan Valley comes to $0.54 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).