Photo: Mangoandmay · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Sicamous is lower than in 93% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Sicamous: 2.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.06% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is about average around Sicamous: 6.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Sicamous grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Sicamous’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Sicamous: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Sicamous faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sicamous grades A for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Sicamous with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #1 of 254 in British Columbia and #276 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.
A moderate wildfire record for Sicamous: 2.4% within 25 km burned, 18% within 5 km
Past fire around Sicamous’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Sicamous is 0.06%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Within 5 km of Sicamous, 69% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 80%.
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
Sicamous sits mid-table in British Columbia: 65th of 255 towns, at 0.06% a year, well behind Oliver (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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Sicamous, and 2.1% sit 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.
Flooding around Sicamous is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sicamous: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship and others have studied flooding in areas that include Sicamous: 2 studies, the latest from 2025.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shuswap Region Floodplain Maps | Province of B.C. - Water, Lands, and Resource Stewardship | 2025 | final |
| Eagle River Floodplain Mapping | Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy | 1979 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Sicamous 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 around Sicamous has come in steps: 2 studies from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Sicamous.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Sicamous’ homes are at risk.
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.
Low seismic risk in Sicamous: $0.006 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Sicamous’ $0.006 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Sicamous, at $0.006, is below 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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (88%) face more earthquake damage than Sicamous.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Sicamous’ figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Sicamous: 6.4% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Thompson/Cariboo health region: radon tests
Sicamous’ area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 6.4% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Sicamous than in most towns in British Columbia: 6.4% against 1.8%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Sicamous is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Sicamous can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Sicamous
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sicamous; 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 Sicamous, 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 Sicamous’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicamous | Moderate | $0.006 | 6.4% | Yes |
| Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap 1,518 · 9.3 km | Moderate | $0.007 | 6.4% | Yes |
The fire record around Electoral Area E, Columbia-Shuswap is a touch heavier than Sicamous’, but the band is the same: moderate (here moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sicamous faces
What to do about the hazards Sicamous faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Sicamous’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Sicamous.
- 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 Sicamous’.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Sicamous is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sicamous
How big is the earthquake risk in Sicamous?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sicamous’ buildings lose $0.006 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Sicamous at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 2.4% of the land around Sicamous since 1986 (last in 2024); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Sicamous flood?
There is flood mapping for Sicamous on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Sicamous?
Around Sicamous, 109 survey homes were tested and 6.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Sicamous’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sicamous A, 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).