Earthquakes are Renfrew-Collingwood’s biggest hazard: $0.43 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 14 times the norm
Burn scars are few around Renfrew-Collingwood, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Renfrew-Collingwood grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Renfrew-Collingwood’s hazards
For Renfrew-Collingwood, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Renfrew-Collingwood faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Renfrew-Collingwood: B−
For Renfrew-Collingwood, 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.
Few fires near Renfrew-Collingwood: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Renfrew-Collingwood’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Renfrew-Collingwood is 0.004%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Renfrew-Collingwood’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 8.8 km away.
38% of the land within 25 km of Renfrew-Collingwood is forest fuel, yet only 1% within 5 km of its 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
Oliver tops the 255 towns in British Columbia at 0.98% a year; Renfrew-Collingwood, at 0.004%, comes 144th.
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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Renfrew-Collingwood burns, but slower than in the 7.5% 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.
No flood study is listed for Renfrew-Collingwood
Flood studies whose area touches Renfrew-Collingwood, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Renfrew-Collingwood; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in British Columbia, 76% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Renfrew-Collingwood.
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 Renfrew-Collingwood’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.”
Shaking is Renfrew-Collingwood’s costliest hazard: $0.43 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Roughly 14.4 times the typical $0.030: Renfrew-Collingwood’s $0.43 marks real seismic exposure.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Vancouver, with Renfrew-Collingwood one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Renfrew-Collingwood ($0.43) matches the middle in British Columbia ($0.36), far from Duncan’s $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.
Renfrew-Collingwood 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).
For Renfrew-Collingwood 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).
Radon runs low around Renfrew-Collingwood: 1.2% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Renfrew-Collingwood’s area, at 1.2%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Renfrew-Collingwood’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.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Renfrew-Collingwood’s band, which holds 37%.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Renfrew-Collingwood, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Vancouver health region
Where to get warnings in Renfrew-Collingwood
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Renfrew-Collingwood; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Renfrew-Collingwood come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Renfrew-Collingwood
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renfrew-Collingwood | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Norquay Village 11,287 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Broadview 8,008 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Collingwood 18,399 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Kensington-Cedar Cottage 39,668 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Garden Village 6,492 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.36 | 0% | None listed |
| Hastings-Sunrise 36,072 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
Renfrew-Collingwood’s low band tops its neighbours; Norquay Village is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Renfrew-Collingwood faces
Practical steps for Renfrew-Collingwood’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?
- 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Renfrew-Collingwood.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Renfrew-Collingwood is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Renfrew-Collingwood’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Renfrew-Collingwood, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Renfrew-Collingwood
Is Renfrew-Collingwood at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Renfrew-Collingwood’s low band (0.2% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2022) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Renfrew-Collingwood?
Expected earthquake damage in Renfrew-Collingwood comes to $0.43 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Renfrew-Collingwood’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Renfrew-Collingwood grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Renfrew-Collingwood flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Renfrew-Collingwood, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in Renfrew-Collingwood?
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 Renfrew-Collingwood.
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).