Photo: Bplimley · CC BY-SA 4.0Shaking costs buildings in Surrey Centre $0.47 a year per $1,000 of value, 16 times the typical town’s
Little of the land around Surrey Centre has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.004% a year. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Surrey Centre a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Surrey Centre’s hazards
For Surrey Centre, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Surrey Centre faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Surrey Centre grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Surrey Centre’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Surrey Centre has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Surrey Centre’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.004% a year keeps Surrey Centre in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Surrey Centre’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 16 km away.
The forest starts beyond town: 1.6% of the land within 5 km of Surrey Centre’s homes is forest fuel, against 17% 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 Surrey Centre (0.004% a year), but it ranks only 144th 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, Surrey Centre 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 Surrey Centre (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Surrey Centre: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
City of Surrey studied flooding in an area that includes Surrey Centre (2015); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| 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
Its flood study puts Surrey Centre 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Surrey Centre floods.
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 Surrey Centre: $0.47 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Surrey Centre loses $0.47, 15.7 times as much.
Nobody publishes earthquake risk for Surrey Centre alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Surrey.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.47, Surrey Centre is above the typical town in British Columbia ($0.36); Duncan has the most 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.
Surrey Centre 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).
For Surrey Centre the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Surrey Centre are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Fraser South health region
Surrey Centre’s survey area reads 0% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Surrey Centre (0%) than in the typical town in British Columbia (1.8%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Surrey Centre, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
Neighbouring homes in Surrey Centre 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 Surrey Centre
Alerts for Surrey Centre come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Surrey Centre are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Surrey Centre’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey Centre | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Cloverdale 13,615 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Provinceton 11,625 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Rosewood Park 9,004 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Sullivan 42,135 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Sunrise Estates 4,292 · 4.5 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
| Clayton Heights 8,961 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.47 | 0% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Surrey Centre (low); Sullivan comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Surrey Centre faces
What to do about the hazards Surrey Centre 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Surrey Centre’s included.
- 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 Surrey Centre 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 Surrey Centre sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Surrey Centre.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Surrey Centre
Is radon a problem in Surrey Centre?
Around Surrey Centre, 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 Surrey Centre’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Surrey Centre B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Surrey Centre flood?
Surrey Centre’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Surrey Centre at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Surrey Centre since 1986 (last in 2022); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Surrey Centre?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Surrey Centre $0.47 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).