Photo: The original uploader was IDuke at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 2.5Shaking costs buildings in Esquimalt $1.25 a year per $1,000 of value, 42 times the typical town’s
Wildfire is rare near Esquimalt: 0.3% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.006% a year. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.8% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Esquimalt grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Esquimalt’s hazards
For Esquimalt, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Esquimalt faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Esquimalt grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Esquimalt with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #192 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,812 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 55 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Esquimalt: 0% within 5 km, 0.3% within 25 km
Past fire around Esquimalt’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.006% burned a year, Esquimalt is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
No fire has burned within 5 km of Esquimalt’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 5.6 km away.
There is forest near Esquimalt’s homes (8.6% within 5 km) and more of it further out (65% 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
In the upper half in British Columbia but far from Oliver (0.98%): Esquimalt ranks 115th of 255, at 0.006% a year.
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, Esquimalt 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.
Capital Regional District has mapped flooding for Esquimalt (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Esquimalt: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Capital Regional District holds the flood mapping that covers Esquimalt (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
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Esquimalt has one too.
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 Esquimalt.
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 Esquimalt $1.25 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $1.25 per $1,000, Esquimalt carries roughly 41.7 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Esquimalt, at $1.25, sits above the median of $0.36.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Esquimalt is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; under 0.1% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Esquimalt 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).
Little radon around Esquimalt: 1.8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the South Vancouver Island health region
A lower share than most: 1.8% of tested homes around Esquimalt, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Esquimalt, 1.8% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Esquimalt 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.
A low area share in Esquimalt 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 Esquimalt
Alerts for Esquimalt 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 Esquimalt 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 Esquimalt’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esquimalt | Low | $1.25 | 1.8% | Yes |
| New Songhees 1A 2,052 · 1.9 km | Low | $1.02 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Victoria 103,888 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.66 | 1.8% | Yes |
| View Royal 12,795 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.91 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Saanich 126,011 · 5.5 km | Low | $0.76 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Colwood 22,794 · 6.3 km | Low | $1.09 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Oak Bay 18,626 · 7.0 km | Low | $0.81 | 1.8% | Yes |
The fire record around Colwood is a touch heavier than Esquimalt’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 Esquimalt faces
What to do about the hazards Esquimalt 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. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Esquimalt’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Esquimalt floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Esquimalt, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Esquimalt sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Esquimalt
Is Esquimalt at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.3% of the land within 25 km of Esquimalt has burned since 1986, the last in 2024, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Esquimalt’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Esquimalt C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Esquimalt flood?
Esquimalt’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 big is the earthquake risk in Esquimalt?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Esquimalt’s buildings lose $1.25 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Esquimalt?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.8% of 55 homes tested in Esquimalt’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).