Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0Earthquakes are West Point Grey’s biggest hazard: $0.43 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 14 times the norm
Burn scars are few around West Point Grey, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.005% a year). In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). West Point Grey grades B− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about West Point Grey’s hazards
For West Point Grey, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What West Point Grey faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
West Point Grey grades B− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make West Point Grey’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #136 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,670 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near West Point Grey: 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around West Point Grey’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around West Point Grey is 0.005%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 11 km from West Point Grey’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest thickens with distance from West Point Grey: 14% 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
West Point Grey sits mid-table in British Columbia: 121st of 255 towns, at 0.005% a year, well behind Oliver (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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around West Point Grey 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.
City of Vancouver has mapped flooding for West Point Grey (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for West Point Grey: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2014 study by City of Vancouver covers West Point Grey, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in British Columbia reaches 76% of towns, West Point Grey 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.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of West Point Grey’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 West Point Grey: $0.43 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
West Point Grey’s $0.43 is about 14.4 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Vancouver, with West Point Grey one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: West Point Grey 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.
Only 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than West Point Grey.
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 West Point Grey 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 West Point Grey: 1.2% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in West Point Grey’s area, at 1.2%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; around West Point Grey it is 1.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts West Point Grey with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
Whatever West Point Grey’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Vancouver health region
Where to get warnings in West Point Grey
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for West Point Grey; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around West Point Grey, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around West Point Grey
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Point Grey | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Greektown 16,618 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Dunbar-Southlands 21,117 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Electoral Area A, Metro Vancouver 22,031 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.26 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Arbutus Ridge 15,083 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Kitsilano 27,320 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Musqueam 2 1,879 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.60 | 1.2% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than West Point Grey (low); Greektown comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what West Point Grey faces
Practical steps for West Point Grey’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
- Wildfire counts one way. For West Point Grey, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for West Point Grey’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for West Point Grey 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 West Point Grey until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in West Point Grey
How big is the earthquake risk in West Point Grey?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in West Point Grey $0.43 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is West Point Grey at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: West Point Grey’s band is low, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2018), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in West Point Grey?
1.2% of the 83 homes Health Canada tested around West Point Grey topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does West Point Grey flood?
A flood study covers West Point Grey on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is West Point Grey’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives West Point Grey B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).