Photo: SoftwareSimian · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Pemberton: 1 on record, latest by Pemberton Valley Dyking District Office
Wildfire is rare near Pemberton: 1.6% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.04% a year. NRCan expects $0.038 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Pemberton, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 2.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Pemberton a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Pemberton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Pemberton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Pemberton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Pemberton grades A− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Pemberton’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #11 of 254 in British Columbia and #669 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.
Little of the land around Pemberton has burned: 1% within 5 km, 1.6% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Pemberton’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Pemberton fire takes 0.04% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
More forest grows near Pemberton’s homes (72% within 5 km) than across 25 km (53%).
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%): Pemberton ranks 74th of 255, at 0.04% 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.
Pemberton 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.
A flood study covers Pemberton, from Pemberton Valley Dyking District Office: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pemberton: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Pemberton Valley Dyking District Office studied flooding in an area that includes Pemberton (2018); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lillooet River Floodplain Mapping | Pemberton Valley Dyking District Office | 2018 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Pemberton is one of the 76% of towns in British Columbia with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Pemberton 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 Pemberton $0.038 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.038 per $1,000, Pemberton’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in British Columbia: Pemberton’s $0.038 against a median of $0.36; Duncan has $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.
Pemberton’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 45% of the 2,611 towns are 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 Pemberton’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).
Little radon around Pemberton: 2.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Pemberton’s area has fewer, 2.5%. Figures for radon tests are published for the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi health region as a whole, not for Pemberton alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Pemberton (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.
Pemberton 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Pemberton as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Pemberton
Alerts for Pemberton 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 Pemberton 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 Pemberton’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pemberton | Low | $0.038 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Electoral Area C, Squamish-Lillooet 2,027 · 1.2 km | Moderate | $0.061 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Mount Currie 1,298 · 9.8 km | Low | $0.070 | 2.5% | Yes |
Fire is heaviest around Electoral Area C, Squamish-Lillooet (moderate), against low for Pemberton.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Pemberton faces
What to do about the hazards Pemberton 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Pemberton.
- 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 Pemberton’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Pemberton’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Pemberton takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pemberton
Is radon a problem in Pemberton?
Around Pemberton, 81 survey homes were tested and 2.5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Pemberton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Pemberton’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Pemberton at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 1.6% of the land around Pemberton since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Pemberton flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Pemberton; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pemberton?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Pemberton $0.038 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).