Photo: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0Earthquake risk in Saltspring Island runs 14 times the typical Canadian town’s: $0.42 per $1,000 a year
Burn scars are few around Saltspring Island, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.002% a year). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.8% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Saltspring Island a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saltspring Island’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saltspring Island: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saltspring Island faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Saltspring Island: B−
For Saltspring Island, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #171 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,719 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.
Wildfire is rare near Saltspring Island: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Saltspring Island’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Saltspring Island burns at 0.002% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
The ring nearest Saltspring Island is the most wooded: 82% forest fuel within 5 km against 70% 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
Oliver tops the 255 towns in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Saltspring Island, at 0.002%, comes 230th.
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.
Saltspring Island 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.
Saltspring Island is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Capital Regional District
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saltspring Island: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Saltspring Island, 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
Its flood study puts Saltspring Island 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.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Saltspring Island’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is Saltspring Island’s costliest hazard: $0.42 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Saltspring Island’s $0.42 is about 13.9 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
Saltspring Island’s $0.42 is close to the median in British Columbia, $0.36; Duncan is highest 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.
Saltspring Island is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 4.2% 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 Saltspring Island’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 Saltspring Island: 1.8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.8% of tested homes around Saltspring Island, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saltspring Island’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.
Few tests over the guideline: Saltspring Island shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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 Saltspring Island as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the South Vancouver Island health region
Weather and fire alerts for Saltspring Island
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saltspring Island; 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 Saltspring Island, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saltspring Island’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saltspring Island | Low | $0.42 | 1.8% | Yes |
| North Cowichan 34,525 · 14 km | Low | $0.76 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Cowichan Bay 3,713 · 16 km | Low | $1.08 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Cowichan 2,509 · 17 km | Low | $0.72 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Duncan 5,745 · 17 km | Low | $1.33 | 0.9% | Yes |
| Southern Gulf Islands 6,691 · 17 km | Low | $0.46 | 1.8% | Yes |
| Electoral Area E, Cowichan Valley 4,482 · 18 km | Low | $0.83 | 0.9% | Yes |
The fire record around North Cowichan is a touch heavier than Saltspring Island’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 Saltspring Island faces
Practical steps for Saltspring Island’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saltspring Island’s figure is its subdivision’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 Saltspring Island 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 Saltspring Island sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saltspring Island’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saltspring Island
How big is the earthquake risk in Saltspring Island?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saltspring Island $0.42 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Saltspring Island?
1.8% of the 55 homes Health Canada tested around Saltspring Island topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Saltspring Island at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Saltspring Island’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2021), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Saltspring Island flood?
Saltspring Island’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 is Saltspring Island’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saltspring Island’s Hazard risk grade is B−, 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).