PlaceDossier / BC places / Fraser Valley

Harrison Hot Springs

A village in the Fraser Valley Regional District. 1,905 people lived here in 2021, up 29.8% from 2016, on 7.3 km² of land.

BC place · village

How Harrison Hot Springs compares with BC's other villages and towns under 2,000 people

  1. Homes: the 2nd least affordable of BC's 20 villages and towns under 2,000 people with 1,000 people or more. The typical home costs 9.3 years of a typical household's income, about twice the 4.8 years of a typical village or town that size.typical
  2. Growth: the fastest-growing of BC's 16 villages and towns under 2,000 people with 1,000 people or more in 2016 and 2021. +29.8% from 2016 to 2021, compared with +2.9% in a typical village or town that size.typical

Typical for its size 1 bus route every day but Sunday, 2 licensed child care providers, 1 fire hall and a 24-hour emergency department 20 km away.

Checked, nothing found No evacuation order or alert since April 2017 and no land burned by a mapped wildfire since 1996.

How we compare

Each figure is set against BC's places of the same kind: cities of 50,000 or more, towns of 10,000 to 50,000, towns of 2,000 to 10,000, villages and towns under 2,000, or rural electoral areas. A figure stands out when it's among the top tenth of its kind at the end that matters to a buyer and clearly off the typical one, the middle place of that kind. Where fewer than 15 places of its kind have the figure, it's set against all BC places with it. A figure only counts when its source speaks for the place: a climate or air station within 15 km and 300 m of its ground, the place's own police service, at least 1,000 people for census figures and 25 homes for internet. A point that stands out has an ochre bar on its left, its section's stamp is filled ochre, and a dot in the bar at the top of the page marks that section; "Typical for its size" is a plain outline and "Nothing on record" a dotted one. In each strip a tick is one place, the tall tick the typical one, the dot this place, and the end that matters on the right. Facts that matter at any size (an evacuation order, emergency care far away, little mobile coverage) are said whatever the size, and mark a section as standing out only when they too are in the top tenth of its kind. A section is marked typical only where a figure in it is set against the typical one and none sits far from it (outside the middle half of its kind, or clearly off the typical one), and "nothing on record" only where it shows nothing.

Harrison Hot Springs outlined. Zoom in to see its lots; tap one for its report.

Hazards Typical for its size

No evacuation order or alert since April 2017, and no land burned by a mapped wildfire since 1996.

Burned by wildfire since 1996
0.0% typical village or town that size: 0%
Years with a mapped wildfire since 1917
1, the latest 1938
Evacuation events since April 2017
none on the Province's record
Poor-air days at the nearest air station
6 days a year (median), 7 km away typical BC place: 4
Radon: homes tested at or above the guideline in its health region
3% in Fraser East (BC: 7.9%)
More on hazards

Its land, ranked in BC

HereRank in BC
In the farmland reserve (ALR)19%78th of 267 (tied)
Burned by wildfire since 19960.0%No mapped wildfire since 1996, so not ranked
Years with a mapped wildfire since 19171most recent 1938
Under mineral, placer or coal titles0.0%No land under title, so not ranked
Land area7.3 km²

Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.

Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990

No wildfire of 1,000 ha or more has burned in Harrison Hot Springs since 1990, in the BC Wildfire Service's perimeters.

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

No fire under 1,000 ha that the BC Wildfire Service mapped since 2016 reached Harrison Hot Springs.

Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

How the land burned

On the Province's ecosystem map, all of Harrison Hot Springs's land is NDT2: forest where large fires replaced the stand about every 200 years on average, leaving wide even-aged stands with a few older trees that survived. Its main biogeoclimatic zone is Coastal Western Hemlock (100%). This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.

Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.

Evacuations since April 2017

None of the wildfire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Harrison Hot Springs.

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Harrison Hot Springs, or lay mostly in Harrison Hot Springs and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Harrison Hot Springs. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017

None of the flood, landslide or other non-fire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Harrison Hot Springs.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.

No landslides are recorded inside Harrison Hot Springs in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0). No record doesn't mean stable ground. The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.

The Province maps about 2.3 km of dikes in Harrison Hot Springs, along Harrison Lake; the longest is the Harrison Hot Springs dike. A dike lowers the chance of a flood behind it, not to nothing; a report names the dikes within 1 km of a lot and who maintains them. Dikes in BC, by place.

No Water Survey of Canada gauge with 5 or more years of yearly peaks stands in Harrison Hot Springs. Just outside it, Harrison River near Harrison Hot Springs had its highest peak, 1,690 m³/s, in 2003 (7 years on record). A gauge's record is the river where it stands, not a flood line; a report gives the nearest gauge on a river by the lot. River gauges in BC, by place.

Poor-air days: at the Agassiz Municipal Hall air monitoring station, 7 km from the town centre, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 6 days a year over the 9 years with a full record, 2015 to 2023; the most was 14 days in 2017, most of them in August. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke). How smoky it gets across BC.

Radon

In the Fraser East health region, 3 of the 100 homes tested (3%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).

The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.

Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Municipalities – Legally Defined Administrative Areas of BC (names and status), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Cost to own Stands out

Homes: the 2nd least affordable of BC's 20 villages and towns under 2,000 people with 1,000 people or more. The typical home costs 9.3 years of a typical household's income, about twice the 4.8 years of a typical village or town that size.

typical
Residential property tax rate, 2026
$4.23 a year for each $1,000 of assessed value typical village or town that size: $7.61
Typical home value against typical household income
9.3 years of income typical village or town that size: 4.8 years
Median home value (owners' estimate, 2021)
$685,000
Median monthly rent (2021)
$1,040
Speculation and vacancy tax
doesn't apply here
More on cost to own

Property tax

The 2026 residential property tax rate in Harrison Hot Springs is $4.23 per $1,000 of assessed value, below the middle of BC's 160 municipalities ($6.24): about $4,229 a year on a $1,000,000 home, before the home owner grant. Rank in BC: 139th of 160.

  • Municipal $2.12
  • Regional district $0.20
  • Regional hospital district $0.12
  • School (set by the Province) $1.55
  • Other $0.23
  • Middle of BC's municipalities $6.24
Where each $1,000 of assessed value goes, 2026; the mark is the middle of BC's municipal rates.
$

On $500,000: about $2,115 a year; on $1,000,000: about $4,229, at 2026 rates, before the home owner grant.

Your bill uses BC Assessment's value for the property, which can differ from its price, and may also include parcel taxes and utility fees (water, sewer, garbage) that aren't rates on value. The home owner grant takes up to $570 off the bill of a home its owner lives in ($770 in the Province's northern and rural area in 2026, and up to $845, or $1,045 there, for seniors, veterans and people with a disability), for homes assessed at $2,075,000 or less in 2026; above that it shrinks by $5 for each $1,000. From 2027 the northern and rural extra ends and the regular grant is $570 everywhere. The owner applies each year, and must pay at least $350 in tax ($100 for the higher grant) after it. Our summary of the Province's page, read 2026-10-04. Confirm with Harrison Hot Springs. How property tax works in BC.

Source: Village of Harrison Hot Springs's 2026 tax rates bylaw, as compiled by the Province (Local Government Statistics Schedule 702, 2026) (the rates only: facts set in public bylaws, not open data); Home owner grant, Province of BC (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-04).

Harrison Hot Springs is outside the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here. Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.

The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 9.3 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's villages and towns under 2,000 people.

New homes permitted

Statistics Canada withheld every month of 2025's building permit count for Harrison Hot Springs.

New homes permitted each year
  • Houses
  • Row houses
  • Apartments
  • Not broken down (months withheld)
New homesHousesRow housesApartments
2018≥ 34≥ 26withheldwithheld
2019≥ 34≥ 13withheldwithheld
2020≥ 78≥ 8withheldwithheld
2021≥ 26≥ 15withheldwithheld
2022withheldwithheldwithheldwithheld
2023≥ 10withheldwithheldwithheld
2024≥ 4≥ 4withheldwithheld
2025withheldwithheldwithheldwithheld
2026 (January to July)≥ 16≥ 12withheldwithheld

Homes in new residential building permits, counted when the permit is issued: some are never built, and some building needs no permit. Statistics Canada withholds a month's figure for confidentiality or quality, so a year with withheld months reads "at least" (≥ in the table); 2026 runs to July (*). Not every local government reports. For permits on one street, ask the local government.

Source: Building Permits (BPER), BC Stats, adapted from Statistics Canada's Building Permits survey (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), through July 2026.

Land for sale nearby

The 5 nearest listings on AcreScout within 25 km of Harrison Hot Springs's town centre, nearest first.

ListingAsking priceSizePer acreAway
Sub 12 Sec 8 Harrison River Harrison LakeHarrison Hot Springs, listed 296 days ago$1,790,00020 acres$89,500 an acre400 m
440 Echo AveHarrison Hot Springs, listed 173 days ago$649,0000.21 acres–400 m
430 Esplanade Avenue Harrison Hot SpringsHarrison Hot Springs, listed 200 days ago$1,850,0000.25 acres–600 m
630 Schooner Place Harrison Hot Springs Harrison Hot Springs British CHarrison Hot Springs, listed 66 days ago$399,9000.1 acres–700 m
Dl 6116 Rockwell Drive Harrison LakeAgassiz, listed 187 days ago$390,0001.68 acres$232,143 an acre1.7 km

Distances are straight lines to the listing's pin. Where AcreScout places a listing only roughly, no distance is given, only the place it's near. Per acre is left out under about an acre. Asking prices are what sellers ask, not what land sells for.

Listings: AcreScout, a Buretto site; active listings as of 2026-11-15. Asking prices set by the sellers; not a valuation.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

What you can build Typical for its size

On a lot zoned for a house, the zoning must allow at least a secondary suite or a garden suite (the provincial minimum).

Homes allowed on a house lot (provincial minimum)
a house and a secondary suite or garden suite
Short-term rentals
The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Harrison Hot Springs (list in force from June 1, 2026).
In the farmland reserve (ALR)
19% typical village or town that size: 1%
More on what you can build

Harrison Hot Springs had 1,905 people in the 2021 census; the Province's 3-to-6-home floor starts above 5,000. So a zone limited to houses must allow at least one secondary suite or detached accessory home (a garden suite or carriage house) next to a house. A floor of 3 or 4 homes applies only on lots inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy. How many homes you can build on a lot.

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Harrison Hot Springs (list in force from June 1, 2026), so the provincial rule doesn't limit short-term rentals to the host's home. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry. Short-term rental rules in BC.

Reports for lots in Harrison Hot Springs can't name the zone: we have no open zoning map for it (see the places covered).

Ask the Village of Harrison Hot Springs for a lot's zone and what it allows.

Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is the soil good for farming? · is it in a community watershed?

Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Living here Typical for its size

1 bus route every day but Sunday, 2 licensed child care providers, 1 fire hall and a 24-hour emergency department 20 km away.

Homes with 50/10 Mbps internet or faster
100% typical village or town that size: 100%
Homes with LTE mobile coverage
100%
Nearest emergency department open around the clock
Chilliwack, 20 km in a straight line
Fire halls
1 on the Province's list; the nearest 200 m from Harrison Hot Springs's town centre
Buses
1 route, every day but Sunday
Licensed child care
2 (1 group facility, 1 family home)
Crime, weighted for how serious it is
no police service of its own in Statistics Canada's figures: those of the Agassiz RCMP detachment (rural) are under More
More on living here

Internet

100% of homes in Harrison Hot Springs have 50/10 Mbps or faster recorded, wired or fixed wireless, against 97.6% across BC.

Share of homes hereBC
50/10 Mbps or faster, wired or fixed wireless100%97.6%
50/10 Mbps or faster over a wired line100%96.2%
50/10 Mbps or faster over fixed wireless100%87%
Nothing at 25/5 Mbps or faster0%1.4%
LTE mobile coverage100%99.1%
Homes counted (2021)1,0452,170,255
Rank in BC, homes without 50/10 MbpsEvery home here has 50/10 Mbps recorded, so not ranked

This is the service providers report to the federal government (ISED), counted over each area's homes in the 2021 census. It isn't a promise for any address: ask providers whether they serve it and what it costs to connect. Satellite service, which needs only a clear view of the sky, isn't counted. Data released May 2026. What internet can a given lot get?

Source: National Broadband Data (May 2026) and Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Nearest hospital

The nearest hospital on the Province's list (updated 2026-10-01) is Chilliwack General Hospital, about 20 km in a straight line from Harrison Hot Springs's town centre. Its emergency department's hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Roads are longer than these straight lines, and a small town's emergency department can close for a shift when it's short of staff: the health authority posts these as service changes. In an emergency, call 9-1-1. How far is the nearest hospital from a property?

Source: Hospitals in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Emergency Rooms in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Fire protection

Fire protection in Harrison Hot Springs is the municipality's to provide, through its own fire department or one it contracts: ask it which hall responds. The Province's list (updated 2026-09-11) has one fire hall in Harrison Hot Springs: Harrison Hot Springs Fire Department. It is about 200 m in a straight line from Harrison Hot Springs's town centre. Home insurers ask the road distance to the hall that responds, which can be far longer than the straight line. How far is the nearest fire hall, and what insurers ask

Source: First Responders (fire halls and ambulance stations), GeoBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

Transit

BC Transit runs route (71) in Harrison Hot Springs, every day but Sunday, from 11 stops. Read from the published schedules for one week (the week of October 19, 2026); service changes with the seasons. A report on a lot names its nearest stop and how often buses leave it.

Source: BC Transit schedules (GTFS), read 2026-10-12 (BC Transit Open Data Terms of Use); placed by us in the 2021 census boundary 2026-10-12. Bus and train service in every BC place.

Child care

The Province lists 1 licensed group child care facility and 1 licensed family child care home in Harrison Hot Springs. By the ages their operators list, 1 takes school-age children. Both take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI). Family child care homes are counted but not named or mapped, since they are private homes. Many operators list no ages, and the list holds the licensed facilities the Province funds, so a licensed one without that funding isn't on it. A report on a lot names its nearest group facility and counts those within 1 and 2 km; ask each facility about spaces and its wait list.

Source: Child Care Map Data, Child Care Programs and Services (listed 2026-10-11) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); placed by us in the 2021 census boundary 2026-10-11. Licensed child care in every BC place.

Crime

The Agassiz RCMP detachment (rural) reported a crime severity index of 328 in 2025, above BC's 92; up 44% since 2015 (BC unchanged).

Crime severity index, 2025328 (BC 92)
Violent / non-violent index586 / 228 (BC 98 / 91)
Crime severity index, 2015228 (BC 93)
Change since 2015Up 44% (BC unchanged)
Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025938 (BC 281)
Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025674 (BC 138)
Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025586 (BC 441)
Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 20254,893 (BC 1,531)
All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 202515,968 (BC 6,943)

Inferred: these figures are for the Agassiz RCMP rural detachment's area, about 7 km away, not for Harrison Hot Springs itself; Statistics Canada publishes none under Harrison Hot Springs's name. BC's police boundaries aren't open data; the local RCMP can say whose figures include Harrison Hot Springs.

The crime severity index weighs each offence by how serious it is (one assault counts for more than several thefts), with Canada in 2006 set at 100. Rates are per 100,000 people living in the police service's area, so places with many visitors, commuters or seasonal homes read high, and in small places a few incidents swing the figures a lot. These are crimes reported to police, not all crime.

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 35-10-0063-01, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services in British Columbia (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Statistics Canada, Table 35-10-0184-01, Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Water

46 water-supply wells on record; half are deeper than 12 m, and the median tested yield is 227 L/min.

Water-supply wells on record
46; half deeper than 12 m; median tested yield 227 L/min
Rank in BC for well depth
229th of 245 (tied)
More on water

Mapped aquifers

No mapped aquifer within the boundary of Harrison Hot Springs.

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

No lake in Harrison Hot Springs has clarity or nutrient readings in the province's monitoring records.

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Climate and sun

January averages 3.5 °C and July 19 °C, with 52 cm of snow a year, at the Agassiz climate station, 6 km from the town centre (1991-2020 normals).

January mean temperature
3.5 °C typical village or town that size: −3.6 °C
July mean temperature
19 °C
Yearly precipitation
1,734 mm*
Yearly snowfall
52 cm* typical village or town that size: 174 cm
Days a year over 30 °C
11 days* typical village or town that size: 11

Winter sun

About 4 h 40 min of possible direct sun on December 21 at Harrison Hot Springs's town centre, against 8 h on open ground; a lot on a slope or bench can differ by hours: open any lot's report for its own.

On March 21, 8 h against 12 h; on June 21, 12 h 30 min against 16 h. Our estimate from the terrain around the point, ground at about 13 m, seen from head height: trees, buildings and cloud aren't counted. On BC's least winter sun ranking (December sun as a share of open ground) it is 33rd of 310 (tied). How winter sun is read.

20° up40° up60° upDec 21 · 4 h 40 minMar 21 · 8 hJun 21 · 12 h 30 minESESSWW
The skyline from Harrison Hot Springs's town centre, from NRCan's elevation model every 5°, and the sun's path on December 21, March 21 and June 21: solid where the sun clears the hills, dotted where they hide it. Angles are drawn true to scale.
More on climate and sun
1991-2020 normalsRank in BC
January mean temperature3.5 °C26th of 116 (tied)
July mean temperature19 °C36th of 116 (tied)
Yearly precipitation1,734 mm*
Yearly snowfall52 cm*Not ranked*
Days with snow on the ground (1 cm or more)10 days a year; 4 days in January*
Lowest temperature recorded, 1991-2020-13.9 °C (2009)17th of 64 (tied)
Days a year over 30 °C11 days; 0.6 days over 35 °C*Not ranked*
Highest temperature recorded, 1991-202037.3 °C (2009)
Wettest day recorded, 1991-2020132.4 mm of rain and melted snow, October 16, 2003
Most snow in a day recorded, 1991-202048 cm, November 16, 1996
Deepest snow on the ground recorded, 1991-202050 cm, January 5, 2009
Strongest gust recorded, 1991-2020107 km/h, March 26, 1997; gusts of 90 km/h or more on 0.5 days a year*
Heating degree days, below 18 °C2,680 a year*
Growing degree days, above 5 °C2,412 a year; 1,177 above 10 °C*

Normals for 1991-2020 at the Agassiz climate station, about 6 km from the town centre. Its normals don't include the frost-free period, so that is left out. * Based on at least 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in 1991-2020. Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 8b (92%), on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 940 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Harrison Hot Springs's town centre, about 33 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at the town centre, climate models project about 11 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 65 days longer and about 12 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 13 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 8 to 29 across the models), against about 2 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 275 days (range 250 to 300), against about 210; and about 10% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 6% to 12%), against about 22%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of Harrison Hot Springs's town centre: faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading), and darker than about 82% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around Harrison Hot Springs's town centre, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 3 days a year and 0.03 flashes per km² a year, less than at half of BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); Air Quality and Climate Monitoring: Verified Hourly Air Quality and Meteorological Data (fine particulate matter, PM2.5), BC Ministry of Environment and Parks (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

Land use around

No major project in assessment or approved in or near Harrison Hot Springs on the Environmental Assessment Office's register.

Major projects in assessment or approved, in or within 5 km
none on the register
Under mineral, placer or coal titles
0.0%
More on land use around

Major projects in Harrison Hot Springs

No major project in assessment or approved is placed in Harrison Hot Springs or within 5 km of it on the Environmental Assessment Office's register.

Closed: 1 withdrawn, terminated, refused, expired or not reviewable
  • Hot Springs Road Gravel Quarry (sand and gravel pit, found not to need an assessment 2020 (it may still go ahead under other permits); about 1.2 km outside)

Major projects are those large enough to need a provincial environmental assessment: mines, power plants, pipelines, transmission lines, highways, ports and resorts. The register places each at one point; a mine, pipeline or line can reach well past it, so check the project's own page for its maps. A property report lists those within 10 km of a lot; every project in BC by place.

Source: Environmental Assessment Office project points (EPIC), Province of BC, as of 2026-11-02 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

The Province lists 2 active waste discharge authorizations in Harrison Hot Springs; the commonest kinds: private site (1) and sewage treatment or discharge site (1). Of these, 1 may discharge to air and 1 effluent to water or land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Harrison Hot Springs is 35% private, 30% Crown land with a parcel drawn (15% with no title), 6% the local government's; no parcel is mapped over 27%, likely streets and lanes, water and untitled Crown land. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

Harrison Hot Springs lies in wildlife management unit 2-18: the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Inside the municipality, its own bylaw can also ban firing a gun. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists one site in Harrison Hot Springs. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Municipalities – Legally Defined Administrative Areas of BC (names and status), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).

People Stands out

Growth: the fastest-growing of BC's 16 villages and towns under 2,000 people with 1,000 people or more in 2016 and 2021. +29.8% from 2016 to 2021, compared with +2.9% in a typical village or town that size.

typical
HereBC
Population, 20211,9055,000,879
Change since 2016+29.8%+7.6%
Median age57.242.8
Under 1510.8%14.3%
65 and over32.5%20.3%
Median household income (2020)$74,000$85,000
Homes owned by the people living in them81.4%66.8%
Single-detached houses65.0%42.4%
Movable dwellings (mobile homes and the like)1.7%2.5%
Built before 19616.8%12.5%
Needing major repairs5.1%5.8%
Median home value (owners' estimate)$685,000$785,000
Median monthly rent$1,040$1,370
Worked from home17.5%22.6%
Unemployment rate8.3%8.4%

Bars: the dark bar is this place, the red mark is BC.

Who lives here

HereBC
Indigenous identity7.0%5.9%
Immigrants18.5%29.0%
Visible minority7.0%34.4%
No religion or a secular outlook57.6%52.1%

Census figures, shown for context like the others. We don't rank or score places on these.

More on people

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).