PlaceDossier / BC places / Kitimat-Stikine

Kitimat-Stikine, Electoral Area F

An electoral area of the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District. 326 people lived here in 2021, down 9.4% from 2016, on 13,213 km² of land. It takes in Dease Lake.

BC place · electoral area

How Area F compares with BC's other rural areas

  1. Emergency care: the nearest emergency department open around the clock is in Stewart, 278 km away in a straight line. The one nearer, in Dease Lake, keeps set hours (Mon 08:30 - 16:30, and so on).
  2. Internet: tied for the most homes without 50/10 Mbps of BC's 159 rural electoral areas. No home has 50/10 Mbps service recorded, compared with 19% without it in a typical rural area.typical
  3. Mobile: no home is inside the 4G coverage the carriers report. In a typical rural area, 96% are. The coverage is LTE (4G mobile phone and data) as reported to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, counted over the place's 2021 homes.
  4. Winters: the coldest of BC's 114 rural electoral areas with a climate station nearby. −16.1 °C on average in January, compared with −1.2 °C in a typical rural area.typical
  5. Snow: the 5th snowiest of BC's 108 rural electoral areas with a climate station nearby. 213 cm a year, compared with 88 cm in a typical rural area.typical

Typical for its size No scheduled buses, no licensed child care on the Province's list and 1 fire hall.

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.

Area F outlined. Zoom in to see its lots; tap one for its report.

Hazards Typical for its size

Evacuation alerts but no order to leave since April 2017, and 3.2% of its land burned by wildfire since 1996.

Burned by wildfire since 1996
3.2% typical rural area: 2%
Years with a mapped wildfire since 1917
21, the latest 2023
Evacuation events since April 2017
no order to leave, 1 with alerts only; the latest August 2018
Radon: homes tested at or above the guideline in its health region
5.2% in Northwest (BC: 7.9%)
More on hazards

Its land, ranked in BC

HereRank in BC
In the farmland reserve (ALR)0.0%No land in the reserve, so not ranked
Burned by wildfire since 19963.2%91st of 215 (tied)
Years with a mapped wildfire since 191721most recent 2023
Under mineral, placer or coal titles13%72nd of 219 (tied)
Land area13,213 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

Since 1990, 8 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area F, together 40,390 ha, 3% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was unnamed fire R91947 in 2018, 31,189 ha.

2018: 34,720 ha here2010: 4,064 ha here2004: 2,879 ha here19902000201020202026
  1. 2018Unnamed fire R91947121,215 ha in all · 26% of it here31,189 ha here
  2. 2018Unnamed fire R916553,531 ha in all3,531 ha here
  3. 2010Unnamed fire R900521,706 ha in all1,706 ha here
  4. 2010Unnamed fire R900399,330 ha in all · 13% of it here1,179 ha here
  5. 2010Unnamed fire R900449,330 ha in all · 13% of it here1,179 ha here
  6. 2004Unnamed fire R900835,278 ha in all · 28% of it here1,457 ha here
  7. 2004Unnamed fire R901341,071 ha in all1,071 ha here
  8. 2004Unnamed fire R9004513,220 ha in all · 3% of it here351 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 4 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area F, newest first.

  1. 2023Unnamed fire R917158.9 ha in all8.9 ha here
  2. 2022Unnamed fire R9051217 ha in all17 ha here
  3. 2019Unnamed fire R909095.5 ha in all5.5 ha here
  4. 2018Unnamed fire R91656137 ha in all137 ha here

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, Area F's land is 67% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years), 23% NDT3 (burned in large fires about every 100 to 150 years) and 10% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Spruce–Willow–Birch (67%) and Boreal White and Black Spruce (23%). 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

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 1 wildfire event with an evacuation order or alert over Area F, alerts only. The latest: Alkali Lake, August 2018.

  1. 2018Alkali LakeAugust 2018 · evacuation alert · Kitimat-Stikine Regional District1 home

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Area F, or lay mostly in Area F 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 Area F. 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 Area F.

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.

34 landslides are recorded inside Area F in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 6 debris avalanches, 5 debris slides and 5 rock slides. The latest with a date of its own: a rock slide, 2014 (listed under “Tahltan Rock Slide”). 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 lists 2 dams in Area F, none classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream. The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.

4 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area F have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Tuya River near Telegraph Creek peaked highest at 731 m³/s in 1964 (61 years on record), Stikine River above Grand Canyon peaked highest at 3,200 m³/s in 1990 (35 years on record) and Dease River at Outlet of Dease Lake peaked highest at 146 m³/s in 1981 (14 years on record), among others. 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.

Radon

In the Northwest health region, 11 of the 211 homes tested (5.2%) 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).

Cost to own

Rural property tax rates are set for each electoral area and its service areas; the figures and a calculator are under More.

Typical home value against typical household income
1.9 years of income (fewer than 1,000 people, so a rough figure)
Median home value (owners' estimate, 2021)
$200,000
Median monthly rent (2021)
$810
Speculation and vacancy tax
doesn't apply here
More on cost to own

Property tax

In Area F, the Province collects the property tax. At 2025 rates every home here pays at least $4.53 per $1,000 of assessed value: about $4,529 a year on a $1,000,000 home, before the home owner grant. Local service areas (fire protection, recreation, street lighting, water and others) cover parts of the area and add to that, up to $2.31 per $1,000 each; which ones cover a given lot is on its tax notice.

  • Regional district (the electoral area's share) $0.23
  • Regional hospital district $0.54
  • School (set by the Province) $3.15
  • Provincial rural tax $0.37
  • Police tax $0.20
  • Other $0.04
Where each $1,000 of assessed value goes, 2025, before local service areas.
$

On $500,000: at least about $2,264 a year; on $1,000,000: at least about $4,529, at 2025 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. Rural rates aren't ranked: what a home pays depends on the service areas it's in. Confirm with the Province's Surveyor of Taxes. How property tax works in BC.

Source: The Surveyor of Taxes' rural tax rates, 2025, Province of BC (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).

Area F 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 1.9 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 rural electoral areas.

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

What you can build

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 Area F (list in force from June 1, 2026).
In the farmland reserve (ALR)
none typical rural area: 4%
More on what you can build

In Area F, a zone limited to detached 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 on rural land only inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy, and most rural land is outside one. None of it applies on land in an Islands Trust local trust area or under a rural land use bylaw, and in the Agricultural Land Reserve the Commission's limits come first. How many homes you can build on a lot.

The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Area F (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 Area F can't name the zone: we have no open zoning map for it (see the places covered).

Ask the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District for a lot's zone and what it allows.

The federal boundaries put 8 reserves of Liard First Nation and Tahltan in or beside Area F. On reserve land the First Nation decides land use, not the local zoning bylaw; a report says when a lot is on reserve land or within 500 m of it. Reserve land in BC, by place.

The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine's building inspection doesn't cover Area F: it issues no building permits there and nobody inspects new building for the BC Building Code. The RDKS checks a new building's siting against zoning through a Building Declaration and Siting Approval Permit, but doesn't inspect it against the Building Code. The BC Building Code applies everywhere all the same. Our reading of the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

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 Stands out

Emergency care: the nearest emergency department open around the clock is in Stewart, 278 km away in a straight line. The one nearer, in Dease Lake, keeps set hours (Mon 08:30 - 16:30, and so on).

  • Internet: tied for the most homes without 50/10 Mbps of BC's 159 rural electoral areas. No home has 50/10 Mbps service recorded, compared with 19% without it in a typical rural area.typical
  • Mobile: no home is inside the 4G coverage the carriers report. In a typical rural area, 96% are. The coverage is LTE (4G mobile phone and data) as reported to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, counted over the place's 2021 homes.
Homes with 50/10 Mbps internet or faster
0% typical rural area: 81%
Homes with LTE mobile coverage
0%
Nearest emergency department open around the clock
Stewart, 278 km in a straight line
Fire halls
1 on the Province's list; the nearest 400 m from Dease Lake
Buses
no scheduled buses
Licensed child care
none on the Province's list
Crime, weighted for how serious it is
no police service of its own in Statistics Canada's figures: those of the Dease Lake RCMP detachment (rural) are under More
More on living here

Internet

0% of homes in Area F have 50/10 Mbps or faster recorded, wired or fixed wireless, against 97.6% across BC. 100% have nothing at 25/5 Mbps or faster.

Share of homes hereBC
50/10 Mbps or faster, wired or fixed wireless0%97.6%
50/10 Mbps or faster over a wired line0%96.2%
50/10 Mbps or faster over fixed wireless0%87%
Nothing at 25/5 Mbps or faster100%1.4%
LTE mobile coverage0%99.1%
Homes counted (2021)2392,170,255
Rank in BC, homes without 50/10 Mbps1st of 248 (tied)

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 Whitehorse General Hospital, about 381 km in a straight line from Dease Lake. The nearest emergency department on HealthLink BC's list is Northern Health's emergency department in Dease Lake, about 500 m away; hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Fri 08:30 to 16:30. Call ahead for after-hours emergency care. The nearest open 24 hours is Northern Health's emergency department in Stewart, about 278 km away. 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

In Area F, a fire department answers calls only inside the fire protection area its service bylaw sets, so a hall nearby doesn't by itself mean a lot is covered: ask the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District which department responds, if any. The Province's list (updated 2026-09-11) has one fire hall in Area F: Dease Lake Fire Department. It is about 400 m in a straight line from Dease Lake. 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).

Crime

The Dease Lake RCMP detachment (rural) reported a crime severity index of 91 in 2025, about the same as BC's 92; down 22% since 2015 (BC unchanged).

Crime severity index, 202591 (BC 92)
Violent / non-violent index136 / 73 (BC 98 / 91)
Crime severity index, 2015117 (BC 93)
Change since 2015Down 22% (BC unchanged)
Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025284 (BC 281)
Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025142 (BC 138)
Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 20250 (BC 441)
Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 20254,261 (BC 1,531)
All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 202511,080 (BC 6,943)

Inferred: the nearest RCMP rural detachment Statistics Canada publishes figures for, about 14 km away. BC's police boundaries aren't open data, so the detachment that actually polices this place may be another.

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

106 water-supply wells on record; half are deeper than 44 m, and the median tested yield is 66 L/min.

Water-supply wells on record
106; half deeper than 44 m; median tested yield 66 L/min
Rank in BC for well depth
113th of 245 (tied)
More on water

The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 2 wells in Area F, 2008 to 2019, among them 1 of the Province's observation wells. No well's median passed Health Canada's limits for arsenic, fluoride, manganese, uranium, nitrate or lead. A report names the nearest sampled wells within 10 km of a lot. A neighbouring well isn't your water: test your own. What BC's well water tests for, by place.

Mapped aquifers

One mapped aquifer lies in Area F.

  1. 1Aquifer 828: Dease Lakeconfined sand and gravel (glacial)30 wells · moderate productivity

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. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area F. 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

9 sampled lakes lie in Area F (one only partly), largest first.

  1. 1Dease Lake52 km²too few readings to judge
  2. 2Cry Lake25 km² · 76% of it heretoo few readings to judge
  3. 3Meek Lake10 km²too few readings to judge
  4. 4Tachilta Lakes10 km²too few readings to judge
  5. 5Hluey Lakes5 km²too few readings to judge
  6. 6Little Dease Lake2 km²too few readings to judge
  7. 7Allan Lake42.4 hatoo few readings to judge
  8. 8Lower Gnat Lake23.6 hatoo few readings to judge
  9. 9Boomerang Lake (Middle Stikine River watershed)15.2 hatoo few readings to judge

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 Stands out

Winters: the coldest of BC's 114 rural electoral areas with a climate station nearby. −16.1 °C on average in January, compared with −1.2 °C in a typical rural area.

typical
  • Snow: the 5th snowiest of BC's 108 rural electoral areas with a climate station nearby. 213 cm a year, compared with 88 cm in a typical rural area.typical
January mean temperature
-16.1 °C* typical rural area: −1.2 °C
July mean temperature
13 °C*
Yearly precipitation
445 mm*
Yearly snowfall
213 cm* typical rural area: 88 cm
Days a year over 30 °C
under half a day* typical rural area: 7
Frost-free period
58 days a year*

Winter sun

About 5 h 10 min of possible direct sun on December 21 at Dease Lake, against 6 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, 10 h 50 min against 12 h; on June 21, 17 h against 18 h. Our estimate from the terrain around the point, ground at about 805 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 172nd of 310 (tied). How winter sun is read.

20° up40° up60° upDec 21 · 5 h 10 minMar 21 · 10 h 50 minJun 21 · 17 hESESSWW
The skyline from Dease Lake, 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
1981-2010 normalsRank in BC
January mean temperature-16.1 °C*Not ranked*
July mean temperature13 °C*Not ranked*
Yearly precipitation445 mm*
Yearly snowfall213 cm*Not ranked*
Frost-free period58 days a year*
Average last spring and first fall frostJune 21 and August 18*
Days a year over 30 °Cunder half a day; under half a day over 35 °C*Not ranked*
Wettest day in the station's record to 201059.2 mm of rain and melted snow, July 1, 1962
Most snow in a day in the station's record to 201043 cm, November 18, 1990
Deepest snow on the ground in the station's record to 2010114 cm, March 8, 1967
Strongest gust in the station's record to 201096 km/h, May 27, 1978
Heating degree days, below 18 °C6,752 a year*
Growing degree days, above 5 °C799 a year; 236 above 10 °C*

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Dease Lake station, about 1 km from Dease Lake (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses); ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include days with snow on the ground, 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 its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). 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 2a (72%); 20% are in 1b, 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 890 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Dease Lake, about 28 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 Dease Lake, climate models project about 1 more day over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 40 days longer and about 2 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 1 day over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 1 to 4 across the models), against under 1 day in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 120 days (range 110 to 135), against about 80; and about 94% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 92% to 96%), against about 96%. 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 Dease Lake: like a small town such as Gibsons, Sooke or Valemount (our reading), and darker than about 77% 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 Dease Lake, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 3 days a year and 0.06 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 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); 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 Area F on the Environmental Assessment Office's register; 13% of its land is under mineral, placer or coal titles.

Major projects in assessment or approved, in or within 5 km
none on the register
Under mineral, placer or coal titles
13%
Who holds them
Largest company holders: Torr Metals Inc (40% of the land under title), Norra Metals Corp. (11%), Northern Fox Copper Inc. (8.3%); private individuals hold titles over 10% of it, on the Province's record as of October 29, 2026.
More on land use around

Major projects in Area F

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

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 Area F; the commonest kinds: landfill, transfer station or other solid waste site (1) and placer mine (1). Of these, 1 may discharge 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.

The Province maps 2 open gravel pits and quarries in Area F: Asp/Goldpan and Beaver Lake S&G Pit; and 28 other open mine permits: 17 placer mines, 1 mineral exploration permit area and 10 mineral exploration or mine permit areas. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area F is under 1% private, under 1% Crown land with a parcel drawn (under 1% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 100%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. 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.

The Ministry of Forests maps 9 active Crown range tenures (9 grazing) reaching into Area F, over 94% of its area, licensed for about 2,236 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 26 registered traplines over nearly all of the area and 8 guide outfitter territories over nearly all in Area F. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area F lies in wildlife management units 6-22 (32%), 6-23 (29%), 6-24 (15%), 6-19 (14%), 7-52 (6%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 3 parks and protected areas (Chickens Neck Mountain Ecological Reserve; Mount Edziza Park, a provincial park; and Stikine River Park, a provincial park) reaching into Area F, over 5% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists one site there. 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).

People

326 people in 2021, down 9.4% from 2016; the median age is 36.8.

HereBC
Population, 20213265,000,879
Change since 2016-9.4%+7.6%
Median age36.842.8
Under 1519.7%14.3%
65 and over10.6%20.3%
Median household income (2020)$103,000$85,000
Homes owned by the people living in them47.1%66.8%
Single-detached houses85.7%42.4%
Movable dwellings (mobile homes and the like)7.1%2.5%
Built before 196111.8%12.5%
Needing major repairs23.5%5.8%
Median home value (owners' estimate)$200,000$785,000
Median monthly rent$810$1,370
Worked from home10.0%22.6%
Unemployment rate0.0%8.4%

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

Who lives here

HereBC
Indigenous identity42.4%5.9%
Immigrants11.8%29.0%
Visible minority12.1%34.4%
No religion or a secular outlook72.7%52.1%

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

More on people

Fewer than 1,000 people live here, so Statistics Canada rounds these counts and leaves out some figures (shown as –).

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. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).