Photo: Northwest · CC BY-SA 4.0Shaking costs buildings in Guildford $0.47 a year per $1,000 of value, 16 times the typical town’s
Fire seldom reaches Guildford: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Guildford a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Guildford’s hazards
For Guildford, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Guildford faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Guildford: B
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Guildford with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #59 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,520 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 70 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Guildford: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Guildford’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Guildford’s 0.003% is in the low band.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Guildford’s homes came within 14 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest fuel rises from 3.4% within 5 km of Guildford to 26% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from homes.
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
Guildford 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; Guildford 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Guildford
Flood studies whose area touches Guildford, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Guildford, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Guildford has no study, where 76% of towns in British Columbia have one against 58% nationally.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Guildford’s 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Guildford $0.47 per $1,000 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; Guildford loses $0.47, 15.7 times as much.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Surrey, Guildford included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in British Columbia peaks in Duncan ($1.33); Guildford, 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.
Only 1.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Guildford.
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 Guildford 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% of homes tested around Guildford are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the Fraser South health region
At 0% over the guideline, the area around Guildford is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Guildford’s area, at 0%, is below 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 Guildford; 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 Guildford 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 Guildford
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Guildford; 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 Guildford, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Guildford’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guildford | Low | $0.47 | 0% | None listed |
| Johnston Heights 30,971 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Birdland 10,745 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Fraser Heights 17,688 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Port Mann 5,988 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Fleetwood 63,957 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Whalley 52,642 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Guildford has the most fire on record (low); Johnston Heights follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Guildford faces
What to do about the hazards Guildford 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Guildford without grading them.
- 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 Guildford until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Guildford, 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 Guildford’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Guildford
Is Guildford at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Guildford since 1986 (last in 2022); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Guildford?
Around Guildford, 70 survey homes were tested and 0% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Guildford’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Guildford B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Guildford flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Guildford’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Guildford?
About $0.47 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Guildford.
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).