Photo: waferboard · CC BY 2.0Earthquake risk in Sechelt runs 11 times the typical Canadian town’s: $0.33 per $1,000 a year
Fire seldom reaches Sechelt: since 1986, 0.5% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.01% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 2.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Sechelt a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Sechelt’s hazards
For Sechelt, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sechelt faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sechelt: C+
Two inputs always count for Sechelt, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #188 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,806 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.
Little of the land around Sechelt has burned: 2.6% within 5 km, 0.5% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Sechelt’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Sechelt at 0.01% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
There is forest near Sechelt’s homes (76% within 5 km) and more of it further out (87% 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
Sechelt burns at 0.01% a year, 95th of 255 towns in British Columbia; the leader, Oliver, reaches 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Sechelt reads low, with 92% of them; only 7.5% rank 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Sechelt
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sechelt: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Sechelt, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Sechelt has no flood study on file, though 76% of towns in British Columbia do (Canada: 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 Sechelt’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 Sechelt: $0.33 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.33 per $1,000, Sechelt carries roughly 11.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in British Columbia: Sechelt’s $0.33 sits by the median of $0.36, while 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 5.8% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Sechelt.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Sechelt.
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 Sechelt: 2.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi health region
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Sechelt’s area has fewer, 2.5%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Sechelt’s area, at 2.5%, is above 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.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Sechelt; 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.
Whatever Sechelt’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sechelt
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sechelt; 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 Sechelt, 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)
How Sechelt’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sechelt | Low | $0.33 | 2.5% | None listed |
| Welcome Beach 3,130 · 11 km | Low | $0.20 | 2.5% | None listed |
| Roberts Creek 3,779 · 12 km | Low | $0.38 | 2.5% | None listed |
| Electoral Area E, Sunshine Coast 4,279 · 18 km | Low | $0.45 | 2.5% | None listed |
Roberts Creek burns a little more than Sechelt, 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 Sechelt faces
What to do about the hazards Sechelt 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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Sechelt, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Sechelt’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Sechelt until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Sechelt without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sechelt
How is Sechelt’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sechelt grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Sechelt at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.5% of the land within 25 km of Sechelt has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sechelt?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Sechelt $0.33 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Sechelt?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.5% of 81 homes tested in Sechelt’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Sechelt flood?
Nothing is listed for Sechelt on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).