Photo: MSTakesPictures · CC BY-SA 4.0Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver has one of Canada’s highest earthquake risks: $0.26 a year per $1,000, 9 times the typical town’s
Little of the land around Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.003% a year. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s hazards
For Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 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 A, Metro Vancouver: B−
For Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.003% of the land near Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s homes came within 7.3 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest fuel covers 42% of the land close to Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver and 48% across 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
Some fire is mapped around Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver (0.003% a year), but it ranks only 191st of 255 towns in British Columbia; Oliver has 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.
Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver is on the flood map inventory: 3 studies, latest by City of Coquitlam
Flood studies whose area touches Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
City of Coquitlam and others have studied flooding in areas that include Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver: 3 studies, the latest from 2017.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coquitlam, Fraser, Pitt Rivers Floodplain Mapping | City of Coquitlam | 2017 | final |
| Serpentine & Nicomekl River Climate Change Floodplain Review Phase 2 | City of Surrey | 2015 | final |
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver $0.26 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.
Roughly 8.7 times the typical $0.030: Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s $0.26 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in British Columbia expects $0.36 a year in shaking damage; Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver expects less, $0.26, and Duncan the most, $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 A, Metro Vancouver is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 6.2% 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 Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 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).
Radon runs low around Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver: 1.2% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s area has fewer, 1.2%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Vancouver health region, Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver included.
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 A, Metro Vancouver it is 1.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few tests over the guideline: Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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 A, Metro Vancouver’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 A, Metro Vancouver
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver; 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 Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 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 Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver | Low | $0.26 | 1.2% | Yes |
| West Point Grey 13,429 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Dunbar-Southlands 21,117 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Greektown 16,618 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Musqueam 2 1,879 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.60 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Arbutus Ridge 15,083 · 5.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Kitsilano 27,320 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
West Point Grey burns a little more than Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver faces
Practical steps for Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver, 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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver
How big is the earthquake risk in Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver?
About $0.26 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver.
How is Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2022) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver?
The area’s survey found 1.2% of 83 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver.
Does Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver flood?
A flood study covers Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).