Shaking costs buildings in Provinceton $0.47 a year per $1,000 of value, 16 times the typical town’s
Little of the land around Provinceton has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.003% a year. Radon is lower than usual: 0% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Provinceton a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Provinceton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Provinceton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Provinceton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Provinceton grades B for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Provinceton 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. Only 70 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Provinceton has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Provinceton’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Provinceton burns at 0.003% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Provinceton’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 17 km away.
The forest starts beyond town: 0.9% of the land within 5 km of Provinceton’s homes is forest fuel, against 20% 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
Some fire is mapped around Provinceton (0.003% a year), but it ranks only 191st of 255 towns in British Columbia; Oliver has 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, Provinceton 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.
City of Surrey has mapped flooding for Provinceton (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Provinceton, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2015 study by City of Surrey covers Provinceton, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serpentine & Nicomekl River Climate Change Floodplain Review Phase 2 | City of Surrey | 2015 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, Provinceton included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Provinceton.
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 Provinceton: $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.
At $0.47 per $1,000, Provinceton carries roughly 15.7 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Surrey, with Provinceton one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Provinceton’s $0.47 tops the median in British Columbia, $0.36, though 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.
Provinceton is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 1.6% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Provinceton’s 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).
Little radon around Provinceton: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Provinceton’s survey area reads 0% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Fraser South health region as a whole, not for Provinceton alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Provinceton than in most towns in British Columbia: 0% against 1.8%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Provinceton 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Provinceton only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Provinceton
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Provinceton; 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 Provinceton, 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 Provinceton’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinceton | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Cloverdale 13,615 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Clayton Heights 8,961 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Surrey Centre 16,482 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Rosewood Park 9,004 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Aloha Estates 13,194 · 3.4 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | None listed |
| Sunrise Estates 4,292 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
Surrey Centre burns a little more than Provinceton, 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 Provinceton faces
What to do about the hazards Provinceton 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
- 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 Provinceton’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Provinceton’s 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Provinceton 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 Provinceton until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Provinceton
How big is the earthquake risk in Provinceton?
About $0.47 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Provinceton.
Is Provinceton at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Provinceton has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Provinceton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Provinceton B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Provinceton flood?
A flood study covers Provinceton 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 Provinceton?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 70 homes tested in Provinceton’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).