Photo: Jd.101 · CC BY-SA 3.0Kelowna faces more hazards than 97% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a real hazard for Kelowna: 17% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.43% a year, in the high band. NRCan expects $0.024 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Kelowna, near the typical $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 17% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Kelowna a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Kelowna’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Kelowna: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Kelowna faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Kelowna: D−
Two inputs always count for Kelowna, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #241 of 254 in British Columbia and #2,563 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Fire country: 17% of the land within 25 km of Kelowna has burned since 1986, 24% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Kelowna’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
High: the land around Kelowna burns at 0.43% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Kelowna’s homes (22% within 5 km) and more of it further out (57% 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
At 0.43% a year, Kelowna is near the top in British Columbia: 14th of 255, 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.
Kelowna is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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.
Flooding around Kelowna is mapped in 3 studies, the newest by Okanagan Basin Water Board
Flood studies whose area touches Kelowna, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Okanagan Basin Water Board and others have studied flooding in areas that include Kelowna: 3 studies, the latest from 2020.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okanagan Mainstem Floodplain Mapping Project | Okanagan Basin Water Board | 2020 | final |
| Kelowna Mill Creek | City of Kelowna | 2010 | final |
| Mission Creek 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 Kelowna is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping around Kelowna has come in steps: 3 studies from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Kelowna.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Kelowna’s homes are at risk.
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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Kelowna: $0.024 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.024 per $1,000, Kelowna’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Kelowna’s $0.024 sits under the median in British Columbia, $0.36, and well under Duncan’s $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.
Middle of the pack: 54% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Kelowna.
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).
The model counts damage to Kelowna’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Kelowna: 17% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Okanagan health region: radon tests
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Kelowna’s area, at 17%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Kelowna (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.
Kelowna is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are higher.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Kelowna as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Kelowna
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Kelowna; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Kelowna come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Kelowna
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelowna | High | $0.024 | 17% | Yes |
| Tsinstikeptum 10 2,081 · 6.9 km | Moderate | $0.012 | 17% | Yes |
| Central Okanagan 4,784 · 9.0 km | High | $0.013 | 17% | Yes |
| West Kelowna 40,274 · 12 km | High | $0.015 | 17% | Yes |
| Tsinstikeptum 9 10,514 · 12 km | High | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
| Duck Lake 7 2,091 · 15 km | High | $0.016 | 17% | Yes |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Tsinstikeptum 10’s, moderate to Kelowna’s high.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Kelowna faces
What to do about the hazards Kelowna faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Kelowna’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Kelowna.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Kelowna’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Kelowna is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Kelowna
How big is the earthquake risk in Kelowna?
Expected earthquake damage in Kelowna comes to $0.024 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Kelowna flood?
There is flood mapping for Kelowna on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is Kelowna at risk of wildfire?
Yes, by Canadian standards: Kelowna’s band is high, with 17% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire counts against its Risk grade.
Is radon a problem in Kelowna?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 109 homes tested in Kelowna’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Kelowna’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Kelowna D−, 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).