Strathcona, Electoral Area C

Its land, ranked in BC

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, 2 wildfires of 1,000 ha or more burned in Area C, together 3,895 ha, under 1% of its land (ground that burned twice counts once). The most here was unnamed fire V52153 in 2018, 2,793 ha.

1. 2018Unnamed fire V521532,793 ha in all2,793 ha here
2. 2018Unnamed fire V523701,101 ha in all1,101 ha here

Smaller mapped fires since 2016

Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped 29 smaller fires (under 1,000 ha) that reached Area C, newest first.

1. 2025Unnamed fire V5193487 ha in all87 ha here
2. 2025Unnamed fire V5194781 ha in all81 ha here
3. 2025Unnamed fire V5189714 ha in all14 ha here
4. 2025Unnamed fire V5178614 ha in all14 ha here
5. 2025Unnamed fire V5194511 ha in all11 ha here
6. 2024Unnamed fire V5194412 ha in all12 ha here
7. 2023Brew Creek wildfire251 ha in all251 ha here
8. 2023Homathko River wildfire238 ha in all238 ha here

And 21 more

1. 2023Landmark Mountain wildfire123 ha in all123 ha here
2. 2023Phillips Arm wildfire84 ha in all84 ha here
3. 2023Unnamed fire V8303753 ha in all53 ha here
4. 2023Brem River wildfire45 ha in all45 ha here
5. 2023Heydon Bay wildfire4.3 ha in all4.3 ha here
6. 2023Village Bay Lake wildfire1.9 ha in all1.9 ha here
7. 2023Unnamed fire V805741.2 ha in all1.2 ha here
8. 2022Southgate River wildfire259 ha in all259 ha here
9. 2022S Elliot Drainage wildfire90 ha in all90 ha here
10. 2021Unnamed fire V5264512 ha in all12 ha here
11. 2021Sonora Island wildfire5.3 ha in all5.3 ha here
12. 2020Ice Wall Creek wildfire381 ha in all381 ha here
13. 2020Southgate wildfire2.8 ha in all2.8 ha here
14. 2019Unnamed fire V5049317 ha in all17 ha here
15. 2018Unnamed fire V52743874 ha in all874 ha here
16. 2018Unnamed fire V52889659 ha in all659 ha here
17. 2018Unnamed fire C52688285 ha in all · 74% of it here210 ha here
18. 2018Unnamed fire V52872110 ha in all110 ha here
19. 2018Unnamed fire V5215412 ha in all12 ha here
20. 2018Unnamed fire V504338.6 ha in all8.6 ha here
21. 2016Unnamed fire V504554.8 ha in all4.8 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 C's land is 40% NDT5 (alpine tundra and subalpine parkland), 33% NDT1 (rarely burned, about every 250 to 350 years and in patches) and 27% NDT2 (burned in large fires about every 200 years). Its main biogeoclimatic zones are Coastal Western Hemlock (47%), Coastal Mountain-heather Alpine (28%) and Mountain Hemlock (25%). 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 Area C.

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

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.

222 landslides are recorded inside Area C in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0), including 65 debris avalanches, 50 debris slides and 35 rock falls. The latest with a date of its own: a debris avalanche, Nov 2021. 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 8 dams in Area C, 2 of them classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream: Pond 7 (High) and Pond 6 (High). 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.

2 Water Survey of Canada gauges in Area C have 5 or more years of yearly peak flows: Homathko River at the Mouth peaked highest at 3,140 m³/s in 1957 (66 years on record) and Homathko River at Tragedy Canyon peaked highest at 1,420 m³/s in 1967 (15 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 Elk Falls Dogwood air monitoring station, 5.9 km from Quathiaski Cove, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 1 day a year over the 9 years with a full record, 2016 to 2025; the most was 7 days in 2020, most of them in September. 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 North Vancouver Island health region, 1 of the 106 homes tested (0.9%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey was 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).

Area C 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 9.9 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).

In Area C, 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 applies in Area C (list in force from June 1, 2026): a short-term rental (under 90 days) is limited to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or garden suite on the same property. Land assessed as a farm (class 9) is exempt. 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 rural lots in Area C name the zone from the Strathcona Regional District's zoning map, where 3 bylaws apply.

• Quadra Island Zoning Bylaw, 1990 (No. 1213)Covers 82% of the area. 3 zones explained, from the bylaw as amended to April 29, 2026, checked October 29, 2026.
• Desolation Sound Rural Land Use Bylaw, 1993 (No. 1460)Covers 3% of the area. Reports name the zone; we haven't summarised this bylaw's rules.
• Menzies Bay Zoning Bylaw, 1996 (No. 1794)Covers under 1% of the area. Reports name the zone; we haven't summarised this bylaw's rules.

Shares of the area's land and water, worked out from the Strathcona Regional District's zoning map (Open Government Licence – Canada); a bylaw is listed where at least 20 ha and 1% of it lies here. Lots inside a municipality follow its own bylaw. Confirm with the SRD's planning department before you buy or build.

Check one lot: look up its address for its zone and the share of the lot in each.

The federal boundaries put 28 reserves of 6 First Nations in or beside Area C. 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 Strathcona Regional District's building inspection doesn't cover Area C (Building Bylaw No. 158): it issues no building permits there and nobody inspects new building for the BC Building Code. The BC Building Code applies everywhere all the same. Our reading of the Strathcona Regional District's own page, checked 2026-10-07. Do you need a building permit on rural land?

The Province maps one designated community watershed, Harbott Community Watershed, over less than 1% of Area C: land draining to a licensed drinking-water intake, where logging and roads on Crown land must protect the supply. A report says whether a lot lies in one and whose water it is. Community watersheds in BC, by place.

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).

The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 1 well in Area C, 2008 to 2018, among them 1 of the Province's observation wells. The median passed Health Canada's limit for manganese (1 well). 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

4 mapped aquifers lie in Area C, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 751: South Quadra Unconsolidatedunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)250 wells · productivity not rated
2. 2Aquifer 754: Quadra South Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock119 wells · productivity not rated
3. 3Aquifer 1240: Quadra Central Bedrockfractured crystalline bedrock18 wells · productivity not rated
4. 4Aquifer 761: Quadra Islandunconfined sand and gravel (alluvial or colluvial fan)2 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 C. 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

12 sampled lakes lie in Area C, largest first.

1. 1Phillips Lake3 km²too few readings to judge
2. 2Ellis Lake2 km²too few readings to judge
3. 3Black Lake (Toba Inlet watershed)93.3 hatoo few readings to judge
4. 4Cassel Lake90.9 hatoo few readings to judge
5. 5Baile Lake83.5 hatoo few readings to judge
6. 6Leask Lake40.4 hatoo few readings to judge
7. 7Unnamed lake in the Toba Inlet watershed (sampled as “"Estero Lake #1" limnology station”)27.7 hatoo few readings to judge
8. 8Tom Lake21.5 hatoo few readings to judge
9. 9Thompson Lake17.8 hatoo few readings to judge
10. 10Unnamed lake in the Toba Inlet watershed (sampled as “"Ramsay Arm Lake" limnology station”)17 hatoo few readings to judge

And 2 more

11. 11Unnamed lake in the Toba Inlet watershed (sampled as “"Estero Lake #3" limnology station”)10.3 hatoo few readings to judge
12. 12Unnamed lake in the Toba Inlet watershed (sampled as “"Estero Lake #2" limnology station”)9.2 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).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Cape Mudge station, about 6 km from Quathiaski Cove (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 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 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 8a (96%), 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 960 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Quathiaski Cove, 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 Quathiaski Cove, climate models project about 6 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 65 days longer and about 10 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 8 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 5 to 19 across the models), against about 2 days in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 265 days (range 235 to 310), against about 200; and about 6% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 4% to 8%), against about 16%. 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 Quathiaski Cove: faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading), and darker than about 90% 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 Quathiaski Cove, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 1 day a year and 0.01 flashes per km² a year, less 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); 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).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 2.8 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area C, permitted to FortisBC Energy Inc. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists 38 active waste discharge authorizations in Area C; the commonest kinds: sewage treatment or discharge site (17), sawmill or other primary wood processing (11) and wood-waste landfill (4). Of these, 13 may discharge to air, 18 effluent to water or land and 13 refuse to 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 3 open gravel pits and quarries in Area C: Bute Inlet Mud, Granite Bay Road and Landtec Rock Quarry; and 2 other open mine permits: 1 mineral exploration permit area and 1 mineral exploration or mine permit area. 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 C is 1% private, 4% Crown land with a parcel drawn (3% with no title); no parcel is mapped over 95%, 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 Province maps 55 registered traplines over 84% of the area and 6 guide outfitter territories over 99% in Area C. 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 C lies in wildlife management units 2-15 (33%), 2-14 (29%), 1-15 (28%), 2-13 (8%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 18 parks and protected areas (Bishop River Park, a provincial park; East Redonda Island Ecological Reserve; Homathko Estuary Park, a provincial park; Homathko River-Tatlayoko Protected Area; and 14 more) reaching into Area C, over 4% 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.

DND lists one former military site where unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO) may lie that we place in Area C by its name (our reading): 1 closed, among them Yorke Island. DND publishes no map of them; ask DND before digging near one. UXO 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).

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).