Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0North Saanich has one of Canada’s highest earthquake risks: $0.73 a year per $1,000, 24 times the typical town’s
For North Saanich, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.001% a year. Radon is lower than usual: 1.8% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives North Saanich a grade of C+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about North Saanich’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Saanich: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Saanich faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Saanich grades C+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for North Saanich, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #181 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,793 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 55 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near North Saanich: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around North Saanich’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around North Saanich is 0.001%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 5.5 km from North Saanich’s homes, none within 5 km.
Within 5 km of North Saanich, 38% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 68%.
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 lower half in British Columbia: North Saanich at 0.001% a year, 239th of 255, far from Oliver’s 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; North Saanich stays low, with 92%.
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 North Saanich, from Capital Regional District: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for North Saanich: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches North Saanich, Capital Regional District’s from 2021, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| 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%; North Saanich has one too.
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 North Saanich.
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 North Saanich $0.73 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.73 per $1,000, North Saanich carries roughly 24.3 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); North Saanich, at $0.73, 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.
North Saanich is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 0.6% 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).
The model counts damage to North Saanich’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).
Radon runs low around North Saanich: 1.8% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in North Saanich’s area, at 1.8%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
North Saanich’s area, at 1.8%, is close to the median in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and North Saanich; 63% sit 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in North Saanich can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the South Vancouver Island health region
Weather and fire alerts for North Saanich
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for North Saanich; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around North Saanich, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around North Saanich
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Saanich | Low | $0.73 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Sidney 13,445 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.76 | 1.8% | Yes |
| East Saanich 2 1,962 · 9.2 km | Low | $0.81 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley 5,156 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.75 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Central Saanich 18,184 · 10 km | Low | $0.86 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Cobble Hill 5,074 · 11 km | Low | $0.68 | 0.9% | None listed |
| Highlands 2,753 · 16 km | Low | $0.37 | 1.8% | Yes |
The fire record around Highlands is a touch heavier than North Saanich’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 North Saanich faces
What to do about the hazards North Saanich 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. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of North Saanich’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as North Saanich’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 North Saanich 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 North Saanich sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Saanich
Is North Saanich at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of North Saanich has burned since 1986, the last in 2020, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does North Saanich flood?
North Saanich’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 North Saanich?
In NRCan’s seismic model, North Saanich’s buildings lose $0.73 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in North Saanich?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.8% of 55 homes tested in North Saanich’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is North Saanich’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North Saanich’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).