Photo: Buidhe · CC BY-SA 4.0Earthquakes are West Vancouver’s biggest hazard: $0.27 of damage a year per $1,000 of buildings, 9 times the norm
Little of the land around West Vancouver has burned: 0.2% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.005% a year. In Health Canada’s survey, just 2.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). West Vancouver grades C+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about West Vancouver’s hazards
For West Vancouver, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What West Vancouver faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
West Vancouver grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like West Vancouver with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #177 of 254 in British Columbia and #1,782 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 West Vancouver: 0.1% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where West Vancouver’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around West Vancouver fire takes 0.005% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
About as much forest grows next to West Vancouver’s homes (65% within 5 km) as across 25 km (63%).
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
At 0.005% a year, West Vancouver ranks 121st of the 255 towns in British Columbia; Oliver leads at 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 Vancouver 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 Vancouver (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches West Vancouver, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For West Vancouver the inventory points to City of Vancouver’s 2014 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Vancouver Coastal Flood Risk Assessment | City of Vancouver | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
West Vancouver is one of the 76% of towns in British Columbia with a flood study on file; across Canada it 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 West Vancouver 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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in West Vancouver $0.27 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.27 per $1,000, West Vancouver carries roughly 9.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
West Vancouver’s $0.27 sits under the median in British Columbia, $0.36, and well under 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.
Only 6.2% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than West Vancouver.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for West Vancouver.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
2.5% of homes tested around West Vancouver are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
West Vancouver’s survey area reads 2.5% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in British Columbia is 1.8% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around West Vancouver has 2.5%.
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 West Vancouver, 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 low area share in West Vancouver doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the North Shore/Coast Garibaldi health region
Where to get warnings in West Vancouver
Alerts for West Vancouver 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 West Vancouver 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 West Vancouver
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Vancouver | Low | $0.27 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Capilano 5 3,376 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.64 | 2.5% | Yes |
| West End 30,785 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Coal Harbour 10,407 · 7.1 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| Davie Village 16,833 · 7.5 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
| North Vancouver 66,624 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.40 | 2.5% | Yes |
| Granville Entertainment District 19,125 · 8.3 km | Low | $0.43 | 1.2% | Yes |
West Vancouver’s low band tops its neighbours; Davie Village is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what West Vancouver faces
What to do about the hazards West Vancouver 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. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for West Vancouver’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’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 West Vancouver.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, West Vancouver takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. For West Vancouver, 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 West Vancouver
How big is the earthquake risk in West Vancouver?
About $0.27 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for West Vancouver.
Does West Vancouver flood?
The inventory lists a study touching West Vancouver; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is West Vancouver’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives West Vancouver C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in West Vancouver?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.5% of 81 homes tested in West Vancouver’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is West Vancouver at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.2% of the land within 25 km of West Vancouver has burned since 1986, the last in 2019, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).