Photo: Xicotencatl · CC BY-SA 4.0Earthquakes are North Vancouver’s biggest hazard: $0.39 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 13 times the norm
Wildfire is rare near North Vancouver: 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.004% a year. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 2.5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. North Vancouver grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about North Vancouver’s hazards
For North Vancouver, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What North Vancouver faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Vancouver grades C+ for hazard risk
For North Vancouver, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #196 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,826 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around North Vancouver has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where North Vancouver’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put North Vancouver at 0.004% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 8.5 km from North Vancouver’s homes since 1986.
Forest crowds in on North Vancouver: 62% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 55% 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 lower half in British Columbia: North Vancouver at 0.004% a year, 144th 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around North Vancouver 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.
2 flood studies cover North Vancouver, the newest from City of Vancouver
Flood studies whose area touches North Vancouver, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering North Vancouver is City of Vancouver’s, from 2014; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
| Seymour River at North Vancouver Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1995 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts North Vancouver with 76% of towns in British Columbia; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for North Vancouver between the 1990s and the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching North Vancouver.
Flood mapping is shown for North Vancouver to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Vancouver $0.39 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.
North Vancouver’s $0.39 is about 13 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: North Vancouver at $0.39 beside a median in British Columbia of $0.36, with Duncan on top at $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.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns face more earthquake damage than North Vancouver: 4.5% of them.
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 North 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 North Vancouver: 2.5% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi health region: radon tests
North Vancouver’s survey area reads 2.5% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around North Vancouver (2.5%) than in 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.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than North Vancouver’s band, which holds 37%.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, North Vancouver’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in North Vancouver
Alerts for North Vancouver 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for North Vancouver to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around North Vancouver
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Vancouver | Low | $0.39 | 2.5% | Yes |
| North Vancouver 66,624 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.40 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Burrard Inlet 3 2,820 · 5.4 km | Low | $0.23 | 2.5% | None listed |
| Heights 22,141 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | Yes |
| Capilano 5 3,376 · 6.5 km | Low | $0.64 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Hastings-Sunrise 36,072 · 6.6 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Grandview-Woodland 28,119 · 6.8 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
North Vancouver (low) has the heaviest fire record of North Vancouver’s neighbours, and North Vancouver (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Vancouver faces
Practical steps for North 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
- 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 North Vancouver.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against North Vancouver.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for North Vancouver is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, North Vancouver’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Vancouver
Is radon a problem in North Vancouver?
2.5% of the 81 homes Health Canada tested around North Vancouver topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in North Vancouver?
Expected earthquake damage in North Vancouver comes to $0.39 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does North Vancouver flood?
There is flood mapping for North Vancouver on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is North Vancouver at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: North Vancouver’s band is low, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2022), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is North Vancouver’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North Vancouver grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).