Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Earthquakes are Port Moody’s biggest hazard: $0.32 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 11 times the norm
Fire seldom reaches Port Moody: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Port Moody grades B for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Port Moody’s hazards
For Port Moody, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Port Moody faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Port Moody: B
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Port Moody with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #33 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,467 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 Port Moody has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Port Moody’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.003% of the land a year around Port Moody, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 9.8 km from Port Moody’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest fuel covers 35% of the land close to Port Moody and 45% 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
Port Moody ranks 191st of the 255 towns in British Columbia for burn rate (0.003% a year), in the lower half; Oliver leads at 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; Port Moody 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.
No flood study is listed for Port Moody
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Port Moody: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Port Moody on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
76% of towns in British Columbia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Port Moody is not yet one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Port Moody’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
High seismic risk in Port Moody: $0.32 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.32 per $1,000, Port Moody carries roughly 10.6 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in British Columbia: Port Moody’s $0.32 against $0.36; Duncan reaches $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.
Only 5.9% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Port Moody.
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 Port Moody 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).
Little radon around Port Moody: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Fraser North health region
Fewer homes than usual test high around Port Moody: 0% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around Port Moody it is 0%.
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 Port Moody; 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.
Neighbouring homes in Port Moody can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Port Moody
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Port Moody; 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. |
For fires near Port Moody, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Port Moody
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Moody | Low | $0.32 | 0% | None listed |
| Anmore 2,508 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.19 | 0% | None listed |
| Coquitlam 173,599 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.33 | 0% | Yes |
| Burnaby Mountain 9,248 · 4.9 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Lougheed 15,442 · 5.9 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | Yes |
| Port Coquitlam 67,724 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.52 | 0% | Yes |
| Lake City 3,240 · 8.0 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
Anmore burns a little more than Port Moody, 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 Port Moody faces
What to do about the hazards Port Moody 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 Port Moody.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Port Moody 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, Port Moody’s included.
- 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 Port Moody.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Port Moody
Is Port Moody at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Port Moody has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Port Moody’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Port Moody B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Port Moody flood?
Nothing is listed for Port Moody on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Port Moody?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 108 homes tested in Port Moody’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Port Moody?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Port Moody $0.32 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).