Photo: Ken Walker · CC BY-SA 2.5Shaking costs buildings in Qualicum Beach $0.47 a year per $1,000 of value, 16 times the typical town’s
Little of the land around Qualicum Beach has burned: 0.5% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.01% a year. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0.9% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Qualicum Beach grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Qualicum Beach’s hazards
For Qualicum Beach, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Qualicum Beach faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Qualicum Beach grades B− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Qualicum Beach, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #120 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,632 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Few fires near Qualicum Beach: 0% within 5 km, 0.5% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Qualicum Beach’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Qualicum Beach is 0.01%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Qualicum Beach’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 9.4 km away.
Within 5 km of Qualicum Beach, 51% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 72%.
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
At 0.01% a year, Qualicum Beach ranks 90th of the 255 towns in British Columbia; 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Qualicum Beach 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.
Qualicum Beach is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Flood studies whose area touches Qualicum Beach, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy holds the flood mapping that covers Qualicum Beach (1997), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Qualicum River Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1997 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Qualicum Beach 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 Qualicum Beach 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.
High seismic risk in Qualicum Beach: $0.47 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Qualicum Beach loses $0.47, 15.7 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Qualicum Beach, at $0.47, 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.
Qualicum Beach is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 2.8% 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 Qualicum Beach 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).
0.9% of homes tested around Qualicum Beach are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Central Vancouver Island health region
At 0.9% over the guideline, the area around Qualicum Beach is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Qualicum Beach than in most towns in British Columbia: 0.9% against 1.8%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Qualicum Beach 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.
Neighbouring homes in Qualicum Beach 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 Qualicum Beach
Alerts for Qualicum Beach 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. |
Evacuation orders for Qualicum Beach come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Qualicum Beach’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualicum Beach | Low | $0.47 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area G, Nanaimo 8,412 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.42 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area F, Nanaimo 8,810 · 6.8 km | Low | $0.40 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Parksville 15,371 · 8.6 km | Low | $0.49 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Electoral Area H, Nanaimo 4,815 · 19 km | Low | $0.34 | 0.9% | Yes |
Electoral Area F, Nanaimo burns a little more than Qualicum Beach, 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 Qualicum Beach faces
What to do about the hazards Qualicum Beach 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. 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 Qualicum Beach.
- 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 Qualicum Beach until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Qualicum Beach without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Qualicum Beach’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Qualicum Beach
Does Qualicum Beach flood?
A flood study covers Qualicum Beach on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Qualicum Beach?
Around Qualicum Beach, 109 survey homes were tested and 0.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Qualicum Beach at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.5% of the land around Qualicum Beach since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Qualicum Beach?
About $0.47 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Qualicum Beach.
How is Qualicum Beach’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Qualicum Beach B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).