Photo: Wpcpey · CC BY-SA 4.0Earthquakes are Shaughnessy’s biggest hazard: $0.43 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 14 times the norm
Wildfire is rare near Shaughnessy: 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%. Hazard risk gives Shaughnessy a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Shaughnessy’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Shaughnessy: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Shaughnessy faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Shaughnessy: B−
The grade weighs Shaughnessy’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: #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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Shaughnessy: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Past fire around Shaughnessy’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.005% of the land around Shaughnessy each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Shaughnessy’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 7.0 km out.
The forest starts beyond town: 4.3% of the land within 5 km of Shaughnessy’s homes is forest fuel, against 39% 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%): Shaughnessy 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.
Some fire is mapped around Shaughnessy, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
No flood study is listed for Shaughnessy
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Shaughnessy: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Shaughnessy; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Shaughnessy has no flood study on file, though 76% of towns in British Columbia do (Canada: 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 Shaughnessy.
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.”
High seismic risk in Shaughnessy: $0.43 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.43 per $1,000, Shaughnessy carries roughly 14.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in British Columbia is $0.36; Shaughnessy, at $0.43, is right beside it, and Duncan tops the list 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.
Shaughnessy 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).
The model counts damage to Shaughnessy’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Not measured by town: earthquake risk (the city of Vancouver)
Little radon around Shaughnessy: 1.2% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Vancouver health region: radon tests
At 1.2% over the guideline, the area around Shaughnessy is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Shaughnessy’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.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Shaughnessy, 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Shaughnessy can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Shaughnessy
Alerts for Shaughnessy 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 Shaughnessy 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)
Hazards in the places around Shaughnessy
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaughnessy | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| South Cambie 9,846 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Arbutus Ridge 15,083 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Oakridge 14,071 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Fairview 33,969 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Riley Park 23,682 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | None listed |
| Kerrisdale 14,105 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
Shaughnessy’s low band tops its neighbours; South Cambie is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shaughnessy faces
What to do about the hazards Shaughnessy 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
- 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 Shaughnessy’s.
- 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 Shaughnessy.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Shaughnessy takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Shaughnessy’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shaughnessy
Is radon a problem in Shaughnessy?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.2% of 83 homes tested in Shaughnessy’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Shaughnessy flood?
Nothing is listed for Shaughnessy on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Shaughnessy?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Shaughnessy’s buildings lose $0.43 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Shaughnessy at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.2% of the land within 25 km of Shaughnessy has burned since 1986, the last in 2018, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Shaughnessy’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shaughnessy’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).