Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Earthquakes are Fairview’s biggest hazard: $0.43 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 14 times the norm
Wildfire is rare near Fairview: 0.2% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.005% a year. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.2% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Fairview grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Fairview’s hazards
For Fairview, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Fairview faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Fairview grades B− for hazard risk
For Fairview, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #136 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,670 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Fairview: 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Fairview’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Fairview’s 0.005% is in the low band.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 9.3 km from Fairview’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest thickens with distance from Fairview: 5.3% of the land within 5 km, 42% 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
In the upper half in British Columbia but far from Oliver (0.98%): Fairview ranks 121st of 255, at 0.005% a year.
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.
Fairview is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
A flood study covers Fairview, from City of Vancouver: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Fairview: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
City of Vancouver studied flooding in an area that includes Fairview (2014); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Fairview 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.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Fairview.
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.
Shaking is Fairview’s costliest hazard: $0.43 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Roughly 14.4 times the typical $0.030: Fairview’s $0.43 marks real seismic exposure.
Fairview doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Vancouver.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Fairview at $0.43 beside a median in British Columbia of $0.36, with Duncan on top 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.
Fairview is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 3.1% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Fairview 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).
Radon runs low around Fairview: 1.2% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Vancouver health region
Fewer homes than usual test high around Fairview: 1.2% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fairview’s area, at 1.2%, 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.
Few tests over the guideline: Fairview shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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 Fairview 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 Fairview
Alerts for Fairview 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. |
Evacuation orders for Fairview come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Fairview
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairview | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Granville Entertainment District 19,125 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Kitsilano 27,320 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Yaletown 40,297 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| South Cambie 9,846 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Davie Village 16,833 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Shaughnessy 8,034 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
Kitsilano (low) has the heaviest fire record of Fairview’s neighbours, and Fairview (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Fairview faces
Practical steps for Fairview’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Fairview takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Fairview.
- 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 Fairview.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Fairview’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Fairview
Is radon a problem in Fairview?
The area’s survey found 1.2% of 83 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Fairview.
Does Fairview flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Fairview; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Fairview?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Fairview’s buildings lose $0.43 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Fairview’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Fairview’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Fairview at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Fairview’s low band (0.2% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2018) is short of the level that counts.
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).