Sun Peaks

Land and hazards

Shares of the land area, measured by us from the provincial 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.

No landslides are recorded inside Sun Peaks 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.

Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · has it burned? · is there a mineral claim? · is it on a floodplain map? · landslides nearby? · radon? · power lines nearby?

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).

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 Sun Peaks.

Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on October 4, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Places matched by PlaceDossier.

Wildfire

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

No wildfire of 1,000 ha or more has burned in Sun Peaks 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 Sun Peaks.

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 October 4, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

Evacuations since April 2017

Since April 2017, the Province's record holds 1 wildfire event with an evacuation order or alert over Sun Peaks, alerts only. The latest: Embleton Mountain, July 2021.

1. 2021Embleton MountainJuly 2021 · evacuation alert · Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality883 homes

Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Sun Peaks, or lay mostly in Sun Peaks 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 Sun Peaks. 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 October 4, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Places matched by PlaceDossier.

Radon

In the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap health region, 7 of the 109 homes tested (6.4%) 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. Test the home itself: 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).

Zoning

Reports for lots in Sun Peaks name the zone from the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality's zoning map, under Open Government Licence – Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and say what it allows.

• Sun Peaks Resort Area Zoning Bylaw No. 1400Covers the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality. 19 zones summarised in plain words, from the consolidation to 2025-05-07.

Confirm with the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality'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 Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in Sun Peaks (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.

Speculation and vacancy tax

Sun Peaks 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.

Property tax

The 2026 residential property tax rate in Sun Peaks is $4.56 per $1,000 of assessed value, below the middle of BC's 160 municipalities ($6.24): about $4,565 a year on a $1,000,000 home, before the home owner grant. Rank in BC: 129th of 160.

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 Sun Peaks. How property tax works in BC.

Source: Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality'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).

Land for sale nearby

The 5 nearest listings on AcreScout within 25 km of Sun Peaks's town centre, nearest first.

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 (our sister site), active listings as of 2026-10-05. Asking prices set by the sellers; not a valuation.

Major projects in Sun Peaks

No major project in assessment or approved is placed in Sun Peaks 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.

Source: Environmental Assessment Office project points (EPIC), Province of BC, as of 2026-10-04 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Crime

The Chase RCMP detachment (rural) reported a crime severity index of 65 in 2025, below BC's 92; down 32% since 2015 (BC unchanged).

Inferred: Statistics Canada publishes no police figures under Sun Peaks's name, even where a detachment works in the town. These are the nearest RCMP rural detachment's it does publish, about 16 km away: figures for that detachment's area, not for Sun Peaks. BC's police boundaries aren't open data; the local RCMP can say whose figures include Sun Peaks.

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 here

24 water-supply wells on record; half are deeper than 33 m, and the median tested yield is 378 L/min. Wells here rank 154th of 245 (tied) for depth.

Mapped aquifers

One mapped aquifer lies in Sun Peaks.

1. 1Aquifer 235: Whitecroftconfined sand and gravel (glacial)8 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 Sun Peaks. 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 Sun Peaks 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).

Internet

84% of homes in Sun Peaks have 50/10 Mbps or faster recorded, wired or fixed wireless, against 97.6% across BC.

This is the service providers report to ISED, counted over the 2021 homes ISED places in each area, not a promise for any address: ask providers whether they serve the address 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).

Climate

Normals for 1981-2010 at the McLure station, about 30 km from the town centre; ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include the frost-free period or days with snow on the ground, so those are left out. * Based on fewer years than the WMO standard: these figures rest on at least 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard of nearly all of them. ECCC publishes them as normals; treat them as a rougher guide. 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 3b (67%); 33% are in 4a, on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Winter sun

About 4 h 10 min of possible direct sun on December 21 at Sun Peaks's town centre, against 7 h 40 min 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, 13 h 40 min against 16 h 20 min. Our estimate from the terrain around the point, ground at about 1,274 m, seen from head height: trees, buildings and cloud aren't counted. December sun as a share of open ground ranks 277th of 308 (tied) in BC. How winter sun is read.

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).

People and homes

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

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

Who lives here

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

Shown for context, like the other census figures. We don't rank or score places on these.

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