PlaceDossier / Capital Regional District
Property dossier · British Columbia
Lot in Juan de Fuca Electoral Area (PID 003-649-709)
- PID
- 003-649-709
- Mapped area
- 1.57 ha (3.87 acres)
- Local government
- Capital Regional District
- Plan
- VIP19985
Reading the BC records for this lot: about 15 seconds. The report appears here when they're in.
- §01Road access
- §02What you can build (zoning)
- §03Buildable area
- §04Floodplain
- §05Wildfire history
- §06Evacuation orders and alerts
- §07Water and streamside setbacks
- §08Water wells nearby
- §09Septic
- §10Farmland reserve (ALR)
- §11Mineral and placer titles
- §12What's planned nearby
- §14Wildlife and habitat
- §15Earthquake shaking
- §16Landslide records
- §17Federal contaminated sites
- §18Noise sources nearby
- §19Services nearby
- §20Internet
- §21Winter sun
- §22Soil for farming
- §23Climate
- §24Radon
- §25Property tax
- §26Speculation and vacancy tax
- §27Crime
PlaceDossier / Juan de Fuca Electoral Area
Property dossier · British Columbia
Lot in Juan de Fuca Electoral Area (PID 003-649-709)
Capital Regional District
- Plan
- VIP19985
- Mapped area
- 1.57 ha (3.87 acres)
- Local government
- Capital Regional District
- Checked
- Oct 20, 2026
The Capital Regional District's Juan de Fuca Electoral Area (the Province's electoral area boundaries, Open Government Licence – British Columbia). In the 2021 census the lot was in Juan de Fuca (Part 1), whose page has the census and climate figures for the area as the census drew it.
placedossier.com/p/003649709 · checked 2026-10-20
On the plan: everything we found340 m across
Plan is our drawing of every layer in this report on one sheet, with contours every 2 m (39–80 m above sea level) from NRCan's lidar elevation model (Vancouver Island Sunshine Coast survey, 2018; read at 2 m): the sheet that prints. Drawn from the sources in each section; lines can be metres off. Not a survey.
27 public records
iWhat these mean
- Look into
- Something on or near this lot that's worth checking before you buy. Each section decides it for this lot from its own records: Winter sun, for one, only where the hills block much of the December sun.
- This lot
- The lot's own ground (zoning, slope, water, access, wells, septic), with nothing in the record to look into. Shown in full.
- Background
- Figures for the place around the lot (earthquakes, climate, services, taxes and the like) that read much the same for its neighbours. One line each; open one to read it.
- Nothing found
- Checked, and nothing on the record here.
- Not covered
- What these public records can't answer for this lot.
Each count is the sections in that group; the strip shows them in page order. Every finding names its source.
Around the lot
Nearest of each, from the lot's edge- Farmland reserveon or at the lotALR land
- Public roadbeside the lot (about 10 m)Kemp Lake Road
- Highway or major road1.3 kmWest Coast Road (Highway 14)
Nothing within 90 m: water, wildfire, water well, logging or crown land plan, power line, pipeline, forest service or permit road, gravel pit or quarry, military land, railway, airport or airstrip, floodplain map, mineral or placer title. Measured by us on the plan's lines, so expect a few metres either way. Each section has the official figures.
Sections
Look into1
Found on or near this lot, and worth checking before you buy.
§10Farmland reserve (ALR) Look into
All or part of this parcel is in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
In the ALR, farming comes first: a second home, subdividing, non-farm uses and bringing in fill are restricted and often need the Agricultural Land Commission's approval, and local zoning applies on top. Check the ALC's current rules before you plan any of these.
The recordfarmland reserve on the plan
- In the ALR
- Yes (all or part)
Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
What the ALR means for a buyer →
Applying to the ALC to subdivide, build more or exclude land →
For reference19
What the records say, with nothing in them to look into.
About this lot 9
§03Buildable area For reference
No part of the lot is steeper than 30% or within 30 m of mapped water (median slope 7%). The ground mostly faces south-east.
- Clear 100%
The recordbuildable area on the plan
- Clear of steep slope and water setbacks
- 1.6 ha (100%)
- In or within 30 m of mapped water
- 0%
- Steeper than 30%, outside that strip
- 0%
- 15 to 30% slope
- 19%
- On designated floodplain (counted as clear)
- 0%
- Median slope
- 7%
- Main slope direction
- Mostly faces south-east (56% of the lot faces within 45° of it); measured by us on NRCan's lidar elevation model (Vancouver Island Sunshine Coast survey, 2018; 2 m grid)
- Which way it faces
- 38% south (SE to SW), 1% north (NW to NE), 39% flat; the rest east or west
- Terrain stability (Vancouver Island Geomorphology)
- Over the lot, the Province's terrain stability mapping, mapped at 1:50,000 gives no stability class, so it says nothing either way
- Karst-prone rock (the Province's reconnaissance map)
- Not on the Province's karst map: the rock mapped under the area isn't one it rates as forming karst, at a scale of about 1:250,000
- Fossils recorded within 5 km
- One published collection: birds from the Sooke Formation, Oligocene, about 25 million years ago (Chattian); about 4.4 km from the lot line.
Estimated by us on Natural Resources Canada's lidar elevation model, from the Vancouver Island Sunshine Coast survey (2018): bare ground with buildings and trees taken out, read here on a 2 m grid, with one dot on the plan every 4 m. Retaining walls, road cuts and ditches count as steep ground, and earthworks since the survey aren't shown. Slopes over 30% usually need a geotechnical engineer's report to build on; 15 to 30% is buildable with more work.
Not counted: zoning setbacks from the lot lines, room for a septic field and well (the Septic section screens for a field), easements and rights of way, and the local government's own slope or hazard development permit areas. What you can build names them where the local government publishes its map. A surveyor and the local government confirm where you can build.
Fossils recorded nearby are collections published in the scientific literature and entered in the Paleobiology Database: where a find was made, not what lies under the lot, and most of BC's fossil ground has never been searched. Positions are as the papers gave them, often to the nearest minute (up to about 2 km off), so a collection is never placed on the lot. On Crown land fossils are the Province's, and collecting rules apply; on titled land, ask the owner.
Sources (6)
High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM), lidar DTM from the Vancouver Island Sunshine Coast survey (2018), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Freshwater Atlas and designated floodplain maps, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Terrain Stability Mapping (TSM) Detailed Polygons, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Reconnaissance Karst Potential Mapping, Province of BC (Ministry of Forests, 2002) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Paleobiology Database, fossil occurrences in British Columbia (4,166 collections), read 2026-10-13 (CC BY 4.0); Paleobiology Database, collection 125177 (CC BY 4.0).
How the buildable share is measured, and what it leaves out →
Archaeological sites: protected whether recorded or not, and how to ask →
Fossils near a property: what's recorded, and the collecting rules →
§04Floodplain For reference
Not on one of the province's designated floodplain maps.
The record
- Dam: Cross Bow Creek Dam
- About 790 m from the lot line; earthfill, 3 m high; not regulated under the Dam Safety Regulation; failure consequence class Low
- Dikes nearby
- None within 1 km on the Province's map of dikes and flood protection works
These maps were drawn mostly in the 1980s and 1990s and cover only some rivers and lakes. Not being on one doesn't mean the land can't flood: ask the local government whether it has newer flood mapping, and whether its bylaws set a flood construction level or floodplain setback here.
Sources (3)
Floodplain areas (designated floodplain mapping), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Flood Protection Works: Structural Works, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Dams, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
What a floodplain map means, and what it doesn't cover →
Dams: what the consequence class means, and an owner's duties →
§05Wildfire history For reference
No recorded fire on the parcel; 9 recorded within 2 km, most recently in 1952.
The record
- Fires on the parcel
- 0
- Fires within 2 km
- 9
- Within 2 km in the last 30 years
- 0
- Most recent nearby
- 1952 (27 ha, caused by people)
- Largest nearby
- 1929 (291 ha, caused by people)
- Causes on record within 2 km
- 9 caused by people
- Natural fire regime (the Province's ecosystem map)
- NDT2, infrequent stand-initiating events: 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
- Biogeoclimatic unit
- Coastal Western Hemlock zone, dry maritime subzone, Western variant (CWHdm2)
- Forest damage mapped from the air
- None mapped on or within 1 km of the lot in the Province's aerial overview surveys, 1999 to 2025
Fire perimeters mapped by the BC Wildfire Service since 1919, each with its size and the cause the Service recorded (lightning or people, sometimes unknown); older and small fires are less complete. Past fire is history, not a forecast: for insurance, ask about the fire protection area and the distance to the nearest fire hall.
The natural disturbance type is how the forest here burned, blew down or otherwise renewed itself before logging and fire suppression, from the Province's biogeoclimatic map and its Biodiversity Guidebook (1995). It describes the land around the lot over centuries, not the lot's own fire risk or the odds of a fire in any year; the Province's fire threat rating and fuel maps aren't open data. Our summary, checked 2026-10-11.
The Province's Aerial Overview Survey is flown each summer from small planes 500 to 1,000 m up, sketching damaged stands on maps at 1:100,000 to 1:250,000: it gives the general location and rough extent of damage, not a ground count, and the Province says it isn't accurate enough to direct work on the ground. Most of the province is flown each year, but weather and smoke leave gaps, so a year with no record isn't a year with no damage. Each year's polygons record the trees recently killed (fading or red) or the foliage damaged that season, as the surveyors read it from the air; trees killed in earlier years aren't counted again, and dead trees may since have fallen, been logged or burned. Clumps of up to about 50 dead trees are mapped as spots, which aren't shown here. Our summary of the survey's standards and damage ratings, checked 2026-10-12.
Sources (5)
Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Biodiversity Guidebook, Forest Practices Code of British Columbia (1995), natural disturbance types (Our summary, checked 2026-10-11); Pest Infestation Polygons (Aerial Overview Survey), Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Forest Health Aerial Overview Survey Standards for British Columbia (2019) and the survey's damage ratings, Province of BC (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-12).
§08Water wells nearby For reference
87 water-supply wells on record within 2 km; typical depth 122 m, typical tested yield 6 L/min. The lot is over 2 mapped aquifers (side by side or stacked): aquifer 599 (Sooke River floodplain, west to Kemp Lake), aquifer 606 (Sooke-Metchosin).
The record
- Wells within 2 km
- 87
- Median depth
- 122 m
- Median tested yield
- 6 L/min (68 wells tested)
- Median water level below ground
- 17 m
- Aquifer 599 under the lot
- Sooke River floodplain, west to Kemp Lake: confined sand and gravel (glacial); productivity moderate, vulnerability high, demand low; 57 wells linked, median depth 12.6 m
- Aquifer 606 under the lot
- Sooke-Metchosin: fractured crystalline bedrock; productivity low, vulnerability high, demand low; 1,550 wells linked, median depth 128 m
- Sea water intrusion
- Moderately Low (2 on the Province's scale of five, Low to High) for the bedrock aquifer under the lot in the 2021 assessment, rated on the aquifer's setting (its material, slope, distance from the sea and ground water level) and pumping nearby (how many wells, and what for); other ratings over the lot: low (per the Province's map)
- Groundwater level trend
- No provincial observation well still measured in the aquifer under the lot or within 10 km
- Groundwater tested 6.8 km away
- At the Province's observation well 443, in aquifer 606, under the lot: within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L: arsenic 0.0045, fluoride 0.13, manganese 0.00083, uranium under detection, nitrate (as nitrogen) 0.017, lead under detection; 1 sample, 2018. Not this lot's water: test your own well.
- Drinking-water protection zone
- None over the lot on the Province's map (it holds only the zones a water system's protection plan has mapped, so many wells and intakes have none on it)
- Water systems' wells and intakes within 300 m
- None on the Province's list
- Community watershed
- None over the lot on the Province's map
- Water licences on springs and drinking-water diversions (300 m)
- Redford Spring: a domestic licence (C039644), priority date 1972, 2.3 m³ a day, 95 m from the lot line
- Water use cut back for fish (temporary protection orders)
- No temporary protection order has covered this lot on the Province's map
Neighbours' wells show what drillers found nearby, not what a new well here will find; many wells were never registered. For a property on a well, ask for a recent flow test and water quality test.
Productivity is how much water the aquifer gives up to wells; vulnerability is how easily a spill at the surface could reach it; both are the province's ratings for the whole aquifer, not this lot. Mapped aquifers cover mostly settled valleys: a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Confirm with a qualified hydrogeologist or registered well driller.
The Province's map is a regional screening of how easily sea water could be drawn into a coastal aquifer, not a test of any well. Near the sea, fresh ground water floats on salt water, and a well near the shore can turn salty with pumping, its own or its neighbours'; once in, the salt can take years to clear or stay for good, and a well must not be run in a way that draws it in (Water Sustainability Act, s. 58). The Province advises well owners near the coast to test for chloride and electrical conductivity once a year, in the dry season: a well over 150 mg/L of chloride or 1,000 µS/cm counts as affected, and water tastes salty from about 250 mg/L. For a property on a well here, ask for chloride and conductivity in the well water test. Our summary, read 2026-10-07.
These are samples of raw water, before any treatment, from wells in the Province's environmental monitoring records since 2000: its observation wells and groundwater surveys, water systems' wells and other drinking-water wells; wells at landfills, mines and permit holders' works are left out. A result below the lab's detection limit counts at that limit. Lead mostly comes from a well's pipes and fittings rather than the aquifer. Groundwater changes over short distances and with depth, so a nearby well says what the aquifer can hold, not what a well on this lot gives. Bacteria aren't shown: they depend on how each well is built and kept.
Health Canada's Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality set the most a drinking water should hold: arsenic 0.010 mg/L, fluoride 1.5 mg/L, manganese 0.12 mg/L (and 0.02 mg/L for taste and for staining laundry and fixtures), uranium 0.02 mg/L, nitrate 10 mg/L as nitrogen (45 mg/L as nitrate) and lead 0.005 mg/L, with arsenic and lead kept as low as reasonably achievable. Our summary of Health Canada's summary table, read 2026-10-11.
Test your own well, for bacteria and these, at an accredited lab; your health authority can say which labs take samples from private wells.
These are the Province's open maps of licensed springs and of points where drinking water is diverted from a stream for two or more homes or a water system. Other water licences (a creek diverted for one house, irrigation, storage) are only in the Province's water rights databases, which aren't open data, so no licence listed here doesn't mean none is held on or near the lot (our reading). All water in BC belongs to the Crown. Taking water from a creek, spring or lake needs a water licence, except household use of water no licence or reservation already holds, and a well for the house needs none. A licence lets its holder divert and use the quantity it names and build the works for it. When water runs short, licences on the same stream or a connected aquifer take precedence by their priority date, earliest first. A licence tied to land passes with it when the land is sold, and the seller must tell the Province in writing before the sale completes. The holder pays a yearly rental, must make beneficial use of the water, and can lose a licence not used for 3 years in a row (Water Sustainability Act ss. 6 (3), (4), 7, 22, 25, 30, 94). Ask the seller whether a water licence comes with the land, its number and what it allows, and look it up by number or by the creek's or spring's name in the Province's Water Licence Search; FrontCounter BC (1-877-855-3222) answers questions about licences. Our summary of the Water Sustainability Act, checked 2026-10-11.
Sources (19)
Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Aquifer 599: Sooke River floodplain, west to Kemp Lake: ratings and wells (PlaceDossier aquifer page); Aquifer 606: Sooke-Metchosin: ratings and wells (PlaceDossier aquifer page); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Aquifer Vulnerability to Sea Water Intrusion, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); GIS Modelling of Sea Water Intrusion Risk along British Columbia's Coast (Sivak and Wei, 2021), the method behind the map, Province of BC (the Province's report, linked for reading); Best Practices for Prevention of Saltwater Intrusion, Province of BC (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-07); Long-term Trends in Groundwater Levels in B.C., Environmental Reporting BC (Provincial Groundwater Observation Well Network) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality: summary table, Health Canada (summarised in our words); Health authority drinking water contacts, Province of BC (linked for reading); Drinking Water Sources – Protection Zones, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Drinking Water Sources – Intakes/Wellheads, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Community Watersheds – Current, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Licensed Springs, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Drinking Water Sources (Surface Water PODs), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Water Sustainability Act, SBC 2014, c. 15, ss. 6, 7, 22, 25, 30 and 94 (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-11); Water Rights Databases, Province of BC (the Water Licence Search Tool) (linked, read 2026-10-11); Water Sustainability Temporary Protection Orders – Public, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
What to ask about a well before you buy →
Drilling a new well: who may drill it and what's filed →
§09Septic For reference
About 1.4 ha (90%) of the lot is at least 30 m from mapped water and recorded wells, 3 m in from the lot lines and under 25% slope, where the Province's manual allows most kinds of septic field. Whether the soil can take a field (its depth, the water table and how fast water drains) needs a site visit.
The record
- Recorded water-supply wells within 30 m
- None recorded within 30 m
- Mapped water within 30 m
- None mapped
- Within the setbacks, under 15% slope (gravity fields, mounds and trenches)
- 1.2 ha (74%)
- Within the setbacks, under 25% slope (mounds, at-grade beds and trenches)
- 1.4 ha (90%)
- Within the setbacks, under 45% slope (trenches)
- 1.4 ha (91%)
Screening, not a site assessment: measured by us on the same elevation cells as the buildable area, against the separations in the Province's Sewerage System Standard Practice Manual: a field stays 30 m from a drinking-water well (60 to 90 m from a high-pumping one), 30 m from a lake, river or permanent stream (15 m from seasonal water and the sea), 7.5 m from a downslope drain or bank where effluent could break out, and, as a guideline, 3 m from the lot line. We use 30 m for every mapped stream. A gravity field isn't allowed on slopes over 15%, a mound or at-grade bed over 25%, and trenches over 45%.
Under the Sewerage System Regulation, only an Authorized Person (a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner or a professional engineer or geoscientist) may plan and install a system, and they file the plans with the regional health authority before work starts. They dig test pits to check the soil depth and the seasonal water table and measure how fast the soil drains, which no open map shows. Ask the seller for the filing and maintenance records of an existing system, and have it inspected.
Well locations in GWELLS are often approximate, and many wells were never registered: look for well caps on and next to the lot. Wells, water lines and septic fields on the neighbours' land count too.
If the lot is on a community sewer, none of this applies; ask the local government, which may also set larger setbacks or a minimum lot size for septic.
Sources (9)
Sewerage System Standard Practice Manual, version 3 (2014), Province of BC: Tables II-6, II-19 and III-16, summarised in our words, read 2026-10-04 (summarised in our words); Sewerage System Regulation, B.C. Reg. 326/2004, summarised in our words, read 2026-10-04 (summarised in our words); Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM), lidar DTM from the Vancouver Island Sunshine Coast survey (2018), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Freshwater Atlas and designated floodplain maps, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Terrain Stability Mapping (TSM) Detailed Polygons, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Reconnaissance Karst Potential Mapping, Province of BC (Ministry of Forests, 2002) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Paleobiology Database, fossil occurrences in British Columbia (4,166 collections), read 2026-10-13 (CC BY 4.0); Paleobiology Database, collection 125177 (CC BY 4.0).
Septic rules in BC, and what a buyer should check →
Buying a home on a septic system: the records and the inspection →
§13The lake For reference
Kemp Lake is about 520 m from the lot, in a straight line from its mapped shore. The province's water-quality record for it is on its lake page.
The record
- Nearest sampled lake
- Kemp Lake, about 520 m
- Readings on record
- 2005 to 2016, 1 sampling site
- Depth
- Deepest point about 12 m (surveyed 1983), from the Province's lake surveys (the latest with a depth)
Measured by us from the Freshwater Atlas outline of the lake to the parcel map's lot line; it says nothing about a way down to the water, which the title, the strata or the local government can answer. The lake's clarity and nutrient record, compared with other BC lakes, is on its page.
Algae bloom reports and invasive mussel checks aren't in this record: the province's Algae Watch map and mussel monitoring aren't published as open data. For swimming, check the regional health authority's beach advisories; for blooms and mussels, ask the province's regional environment office or the local lake association.
Sources (4)
Kemp Lake: every reading (PlaceDossier lake page); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Environmental Monitoring and Analysis Branch, Province of BC, records to 2026-09-19 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Freshwater Atlas lakes, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Lake Inventory Surveys (Fisheries Inventory), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
What a lake's clarity and nutrient readings mean for a buyer →
§14Wildlife and habitat For reference
No species-at-risk record on the parcel; 1 species or ecosystem recorded within 500 m. Federal critical habitat for Western Painted Turtle Pacific Coast population is mapped over the lot.
The record
- At-risk species or ecosystems on the parcel
- None recorded
- Within 500 m
- Ermine, anguinae subspecies (Blue-listed)
- Wide-ranging species mapped over it
- None
- Secured records in the wider area
- No
- Wildlife Habitat Area over the parcel
- No
- Ungulate winter range over the parcel
- No
- Proposed Wildlife Habitat Area over the parcel
- No
- Proposed ungulate winter range over the parcel
- No
- Federal critical habitat over the lot
- Western Painted Turtle Pacific Coast population (site: Sooke)
- Federal critical habitat placed by grid square
- Little Brown Myotis: somewhere in the 50 km square that takes in the lot, not mapped closer; Northern Myotis: somewhere in the 50 km square that takes in the lot, not mapped closer
- Sensitive ecosystems mapped on the lot
- Not mapped here: the lot isn't covered by any of the Province's sensitive ecosystem inventories (checked 2026-10-11)
- Invasive plants recorded on the lot
- None on the Province's list
- Invasive plants recorded within 100 m
- None on the Province's list
- Forest cover (the Province's forest inventory), 99% of the lot
- Open coniferous forest of Douglas-fir (coast) 35.1%, western redcedar 34.9%, Sitka spruce 10%; the leading trees about 126 years old and 38 m tall (projected to 2025); crown closure 60%; air photos of 2014
- Forest cover (the Province's forest inventory), the rest
- 1% of the lot in one smaller stand on the inventory
Red-listed species are at risk of being lost from BC; Blue-listed are of special concern. A record shows where the species was found, sometimes decades ago; no record doesn't mean nothing lives here, since most land has never been surveyed.
Federal critical habitat is the habitat a recovery strategy or action plan under the Species at Risk Act says a listed species needs to survive or recover (ss. 2, 41). On federal land the Act protects it by order (s. 58). On private and provincial land the Act leans on provincial and local law first; the federal Cabinet can order it protected where that falls short (s. 61). The Act's bans on harming a listed species or its residence apply everywhere for aquatic species and migratory birds, and elsewhere on private land only under a federal order (ss. 32 to 34). Our summary, read 2026-10-12.
Critical habitat for some sensitive species is kept off the public map; Environment and Climate Change Canada's Species at Risk Public Registry has each species' recovery strategy.
Species at risk can still limit building through local environmental development permit areas: ask the local government before planning work.
The Province's records come from invasive plant surveys, mostly since 2022, along roads, trails and shores and wherever crews were sent; no record doesn't mean no invasive plants. A record marks where a plant was found that day; it may since have been treated.
The Province's Vegetation Resources Inventory maps forest and other land cover from air photos, reading each stand as one: its trees by share of the stand, the leading species' age and height projected forward each year from the photo year, and crown closure (the share of the ground the tree crowns cover). It is built to plan forestry across the landscape, not to describe one lot: a mapped stand can hold clearings, a house site or other trees, the figures on private land can rest on old photos, and a stand logged or cleared since may still be drawn as forest. Before counting on timber, clearing costs or how much fuel stands near a house, have a forester or arborist walk the lot. Our summary, checked 2026-10-18.
Sources (8)
Species and Ecosystems at Risk, publicly available occurrences, BC Conservation Data Centre (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Wildlife Habitat Areas and Ungulate Winter Ranges (approved), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Wildlife Habitat Areas - Proposed, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ungulate Winter Range - Proposed, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Critical Habitat for federally-listed species at risk (posted), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory (SEI) Detailed Polygons, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Invasive Species Observations (InvasivesBC), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); VRI – Forest Vegetation Composite Rank 1 Layer (R1), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
§18Noise sources nearby For reference
West Coast Road (Highway 14), a major road, is about 1.3 km from the lot line. No railway and no airport or airstrip mapped within 2 km.
The record
- Nearest railway (2 km)
- None mapped within 2 km
- Nearest highway or major road (2 km)
- West Coast Road (Highway 14), a major road, about 1.3 km from the lot line
- Nearest airport or airstrip (2 km)
- None mapped within 2 km
- Light at night (within 1 km, 2024)
- 1 nW/cm²/sr, faint, as around Wells or Lytton (our reading); darker than about 90% of BC's homes. The brightest spot within 5 km is about 4.9 km east of the lot's middle, at 11.
Distances only, not a measured noise level; noise depends on traffic, trains per day and terrain. Measured by us in a straight line from the lot line to the mapped centreline of the track or road, or to the edge of an airport's mapped grounds (to its point where only a point is mapped); a mapped line can sit some metres off the real one.
Railways are OpenStreetMap's track in use: main, branch and industrial lines, sidings and yards, and rapid transit; lines mapped as disused or abandoned, and track in tunnels, are left out. "Main line" is how OpenStreetMap's mappers class the line. Highways and major roads are the roads OpenStreetMap classes as motorway (a freeway), trunk (a highway) or primary (a major road). Airports and airstrips are every aerodrome OpenStreetMap maps, public or private, with its type where mapped; heliports aren't included. Airport noise exposure maps (the NEF contours some airports draw) aren't open data, so they aren't used.
Visit at rush hour and at night, ask the seller how often trains pass, and confirm with the local government whether a noise bylaw, a development permit area or an airport zoning regulation covers the lot. For a railway, the railway company or Transport Canada can say how many trains use the line; for an airport, ask the airport about flight paths.
Light at night is what the VIIRS satellite records looking down at about 1:30 a.m., averaged over the cloud-free nights of 2024, with fires, the northern lights and other passing light left out (the Earth Observation Group's yearly composite); its cells are about 460 m by 300 m in BC. We give the median of the cells within 1 km of the lot's middle, in nanowatts per square centimetre per steradian (rounded to whole numbers), set against the same figure at BC's homes (Statistics Canada's 2021 dwellings on ISED's points) and named after places that read alike (our reading). It is light going up, not how dark the sky looks from the ground: a nearby town's glow on the horizon (Winter sun lists any towns whose lights are in direct line), the moon, a neighbour's yard light and the trees aren't in it, and it says nothing of light at other hours. For stargazing, look at the sky from the lot on a clear, moonless night. This product was made utilizing VIIRS Nighttime Lights data produced by the Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines.
Sources (3)
OpenStreetMap road data as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); OpenStreetMap railways and aerodromes as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); 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).
Railways, highways and airports near a lot: what the distances mean →
Dark skies: what the light-at-night figure means, and what it leaves out →
§21Winter sun For reference
On December 21 the hills leave about 7 h 50 min of possible direct sun at the lot's middle, against 8 h 10 min on open ground at this latitude. (Our estimate from the terrain; trees and buildings not counted.) The ground also allows a view of Kemp Lake to the east (our reading).
The record
- December 21 (shortest day)
- 7 h 50 min of possible direct sun; 8 h 10 min on open ground
- March 21 (about the same on September 21)
- 11 h 20 min; 12 h on open ground
- June 21 (longest day)
- 14 h 40 min; 15 h 50 min on open ground
- Noon sun on December 21
- 18° above level; the hills due south rise to 1°
- Highest hills in the winter sun's path
- 2° above level to the south-east, 0.8 km away
- Measured at
- The middle of the lot, ground at about 45 m, from head height
- Solar panel output (south-facing, tilted at the latitude)
- About 1,050 kWh a year for each kW of panels (December about 33), on Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map; the sun on the panel's face is 3.84 kWh/m² a day over the year, 1.43 in December
- Water the ground lets you see (16 km)
- Kemp Lake to the east, from about 600 m away, across about 40° of the horizon
- Highest skyline
- 8° above level to the northwest, 0.1 km away
- Named peaks in view (150 km)
- None of BC Geographical Names' summits within 150 km clears the ground before it
- Highest ground in view
- About 1,804 m, to the south-southeast, 49 km away
- Farthest ground in view
- About 49 km to the south-southeast
- Most relief in one direction
- To the south-southeast: from about 43 m, 0.6 km away, up to about 1,804 m, 49 km away
- Town centres in line of sight
- None within 150 km, over the bare ground
- City lights in direct line (150 km)
- None over the bare ground: the lit towns within 150 km are behind the hills or the curve of the earth (our reading)
Computed by us from the terrain only: trees, buildings and cloud aren't counted, so the sun that reaches a window or a garden is often less. The hours are possible direct sun, counted from when the sun's centre clears the hills, at head height at the middle of the lot; another spot on a hillside lot can differ.
The horizon is read from Natural Resources Canada's 30 m elevation model in 72 directions, out to 16 km: on its 30 m grid within 1.5 km, beyond that on a 120 m version of it, where single peaks can read a little lower than they are. The curve of the earth is taken into account.
The sun's path is from the standard solar position formulas. Hours are counted in sun time; clock times shift with daylight saving and with how far the lot is from its time zone's centre.
Check it on site: visit on a clear day in December or January, look at where the trees and buildings to the south fall, and ask neighbours when the sun leaves and comes back.
The panel output is our reading of Natural Resources Canada's figures: its map gives the sun reaching a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude, averaged over 1998-2022 on a grid of about 10 km, and we turn it into kWh for each kW of panels at the performance ratio its Photovoltaic Potential maps use (0.75: losses in heat, wiring, the inverter and dirt). The map is for an open sky: the hills around the lot, trees, buildings and snow on the panels aren't counted. The hills around this lot take about 8% on June 21 (our figure above), so a panel at the lot's middle would most likely make less than this, through the year (our reading; the hills block direct sun, not all the light). A solar installer measures the roof or the spot itself.
What the ground allows you to see from head height at the middle of the lot, read by us on the same elevation model as the sun hours, out to 16 km: trees, buildings and the house's own spot and height aren't counted, so a view the ground allows can be hidden by the forest, and a second storey can see over a rise. Lakes and rivers are the Freshwater Atlas's; the sea is read where the elevation model sits at sea level.
Peaks, towns and the farthest ground are read by us out to 150 km on the same elevation model, coarser past 16 km (cells of 240 m to 60 km, 480 m beyond), with the curve of the earth and the usual bending of light: summits read lower than they are at that scale, so a peak only counts when it clears the ground before it, and one at the very edge of the skyline may be left out. It's what the bare ground allows on a perfectly clear day: haze, smoke, cloud, trees and buildings aren't counted. Peak names are BC Geographical Names'; peaks outside BC aren't named.
City lights in direct line are our reading: the satellite's lit cells (15 nW/cm²/sr and up, the brightness of a town centre or more) within 150 km, each named after the nearest town centre within 8 km, and a town counted when one of its brightest cells, taken 10 m above the ground, clears the bare ground before it on the same elevation model as the long view. It says where lights are in a straight line, not how bright they look: the glow a town throws over a ridge isn't modelled, so a town behind the hills can still light the sky above them, and haze, trees and buildings aren't counted.
Sources (6)
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); Freshwater Atlas lakes and rivers, Province of BC (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).
Winter sun: how the hills around a lot are read, and what the hours leave out →
Solar panels: what the yearly figure means, and what tilt and the hills change →
Background for this place 10
§15Earthquake shaking For reference
The building code's design shaking here is 0.82 g peak ground acceleration on firm ground, about 1.8 times Vancouver's. An M4.9 earthquake was recorded about 40 km away in December 1999, the largest of 3 of magnitude 4.5 or more within 50 km since 1985. The lot is about 1,400 m from the ocean shore, on the coast the Province alerts as tsunami notification zone D (the Juan de Fuca Strait from Jordan River to Greater Victoria, including the Saanich Peninsula), with its middle about 44 m above sea level.
| Ground | Peak acceleration | Sa(0.2), low buildings |
|---|---|---|
| Firm ground (C) | 0.82 g | 1.92 g |
| Stiff soil (D) | 0.83 g | 1.91 g |
| Soft soil (E) | 0.81 g | 1.78 g |
The record
- Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years (the code's design level)
- 0.82 g
- Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years
- 0.42 g
- Short-period shaking Sa(0.2), the value the code uses for houses and other low buildings
- 1.92 g
- Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years, on softer ground
- 0.83 g on stiff soil (site class D), 0.81 g on soft soil, about the same as on firm ground
- The same value in city centres
- Victoria 0.81 g, Vancouver 0.47 g, Kelowna 0.089 g, Prince George 0.064 g
- Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more recorded since 1985
- 31 within 50 km and 190 within 100 km
- Largest within 100 km
- M4.9 in December 1999, about 40 km away (NRCan: Victoria, BC)
- Nearest of magnitude 3 or more
- M3.0 in August 2012, about 20 km away (NRCan: 20 km WNW of Victoria, BC)
- Distance to the ocean shore
- About 1,400 m from the lot line (Freshwater Atlas coastline)
- Tsunami notification zone
- Zone D: the Juan de Fuca Strait from Jordan River to Greater Victoria, including the Saanich Peninsula (the Province's zone for alerts on this coast)
- Ground at the lot's middle
- About 44 m above sea level (NRCan's 30 m elevation model; our reading, not a survey)
These are the 2020 National Building Code's reference values at the lot's centre, on firm ground (site class C), with the values the code gives stiff soil (D) and soft soil (E) beside them. Which class the lot's ground is isn't on any open map: the site class and the values a building is designed for come from the building official or a geotechnical engineer. Very soft ground, peat or fill that can liquefy (site class F) needs a site-specific assessment.
2% in 50 years means shaking at least this strong has about a 1-in-2,500 chance in any year; 10% in 50 years, about 1 in 475. g is the acceleration of gravity. The comparison with Vancouver and the other cities is ours.
Liquefaction and earthquake-triggered landslides aren't covered here; ask the local government whether it has mapped them.
Past earthquakes are those Natural Resources Canada's National Earthquake Database records within 100 km of the lot's middle since 1985, the start of its digital record, at magnitude 2.5 and up; blasts, mining events (tremors set off in a mine) and slides are left out. The seismograph network has grown much denser since then, so smaller quakes found today would have gone unrecorded in the 1980s, and positions are good to a few kilometres. A count of past quakes isn't a measure of the hazard: the building code's values above are.
The Province divides the coast into five tsunami notification zones so a warning, advisory or watch can name the coast it's for; they're drawn over the water and aren't a map of what a tsunami would flood. How high and how far inland water could reach here depends on the shore and the local government's own modelling: ask it whether it has a tsunami flood or evacuation map for the lot, and where its high ground is. The height is NRCan's 30 m model at the lot's middle, so a lower corner or a building's floor can sit lower.
The Province's advice near the coast: if you feel a strong earthquake, drop, cover and hold on, then as soon as the shaking stops go to high ground or as far inland as you can, by your community's evacuation route where it has one, and stay there until officials give the all clear. A tsunami from a nearby earthquake can arrive in minutes.
Sources (6)
2020 National Building Code of Canada seismic hazard values (CanadaSHM6), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); National Earthquake Database, Earthquakes Canada, Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Freshwater Atlas coastline, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Tsunami Notification Zones for BC, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Get prepared for a tsunami, PreparedBC, Province of BC (page updated April 2, 2025) (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-07).
§16Landslide records For reference
No landslides on record within 5 km. That doesn't rule one out: this is a list of known slides, not a hazard map.
The record
- On record within 5 km
- 0
This is a list of landslides that are known to have happened, gathered from published inventories and from mapping on satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map: it doesn't say how likely a slide is here, and no record nearby doesn't mean the ground is stable. Some parts of BC (the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon, Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, recent burn areas) are mapped in far more detail than others.
Each point mostly marks where a slide started. Debris can travel well past it, down a creek channel and onto the fan at the creek's mouth, so a lot on a fan or below a steep slope can be reached by a slide that began kilometres away. Distances are measured by us from the lot's boundary.
The kind of slide and its date are the database's own, mostly worked out from images, so treat them as a first look. Confirm with the local government, many of which have mapped steep-slope or debris-flow hazard areas, and with a geotechnical engineer.
Source: Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0).
§17Federal contaminated sites For reference
No federal contaminated sites listed within 2 km. This inventory covers federal land only; see below for what that leaves out.
The record
- Federal sites within 2 km
- 0
- Unexploded ordnance (UXO) sites DND lists for this place
- 2 sites we place in Juan de Fuca (Part 1) by name (our reading): Haystock Islets (in assessment) and Otter Point - Army Camp (in assessment). DND publishes no locations, so whether one reaches the lot is unclear: ask DND (uxocanada@forces.gc.ca).
This inventory lists only contaminated sites on federal land or that the federal government is responsible for: military land, ports and harbours, airports, fisheries and research stations, reserve land, national parks and similar. Most contaminated sites in BC, such as old gas stations, dry cleaners and industrial land, are on the Province's Site Registry, which charges for searches and isn't shown here. Ask the seller what the land and its neighbours were used for; a Phase I environmental site assessment covers it properly.
Each site is one point given by its federal custodian, and a large site such as a base or an airport reaches well past it. Distances are measured by us from the lot's boundary to that point.
DND's list gives each site's name, province and status only: no map, outline or coordinates. So a report can't say whether a site reaches a lot; we place each site in a place by the name DND gives it (our reading), and a site named for a town may lie outside its limits. If you see something that could be UXO, don't touch it: remember where it is, leave the area and call 911 or the local police. DND asks anyone planning to build, demolish, work the ground or extract resources in a former military area to contact it first; some work needs UXO-qualified people on site or on call. (Our summary of DND's UXO pages, read 2026-10-13.)
Confirm with the local government and a qualified environmental professional.
Sources: Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (reported for 2025-2026) (Open Government Licence – Canada); Unexploded Explosive Ordnance (UXO) Sites in Canada, Department of National Defence (updated 2026-06-26) (Open Government Licence – Canada).
What a contaminated site record means, and what it leaves out →
Old military sites where unexploded ordnance may lie, by place →
Old heating oil tanks: finding one, removing it, and who pays for a leak →
§19Services nearby For reference
Victoria General Hospital is the nearest hospital, 28 km away in a straight line; the nearest fire station is Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department, 800 m; the nearest grocery store 5.2 km, public elementary school 3.3 km and transit stop 280 m. The nearest transfer station or landfill on OpenStreetMap is 22 km away.
The record
- Nearest hospital
- Victoria General Hospital: 28 km
- Next nearest hospital
- Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria: 35 km
- Drive to the nearest hospital
- About 38 minutes (38 km by road) to Victoria General Hospital
- Nearest emergency department
- Victoria General Hospital: 28 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Drive to the nearest 24-hour emergency department
- About 38 minutes (38 km by road) to Victoria General Hospital
- Nearest walk-in clinic
- West Coast Family Medical Clinic, Sooke: 5.3 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Thu 08:30 to 16:30, Fri 08:30 to 15:30. Note that hours are subject to physician availability and patient volume. Closed statutory holidays, and for lunch 12:00 - 13:00. Online booking opens at 06:00
- Nearest pharmacy
- Pharmasave, Sooke: 5 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Thu 08:00 to 19:00, Fri 08:00 to 18:00, Sat 09:00 to 18:00, Sun 10:00 to 17:00
- Nearest late-night or 24-hour pharmacy
- Shoppers Drug Mart, Victoria: 22 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Sun 08:00 to 24:00
- School catchment
- Not mapped for this lot: catchments are shown only where the school district's boundaries are open data, for Surrey Schools (Surrey and White Rock) and the North Vancouver School District (the City and District of North Vancouver). Ask the school district which schools serve it.
- Nearest public elementary school
- John Muir Elementary, Sooke: 3.3 km
- Drive to the nearest public elementary school
- About 6 minutes (5.3 km by road) to John Muir Elementary, Sooke
- Nearest public secondary school
- Edward Milne Community School, Sooke: 7.2 km
- Drive to the nearest public secondary school
- About 11 minutes (11 km by road) to Edward Milne Community School, Sooke
- Nearest public school with early French immersion
- Ecole Poirier Elementary, Sooke: 5.6 km
- Nearest francophone school (Conseil scolaire francophone)
- Beausoleil, Victoria: 30 km
- Independent schools within 10 km on Vancouver Island
- 0
- Nearest licensed group child care
- None within 2 km on the Province's list; the nearest is 3.6 km away
- Licensed family child care within about 2 km
- None on the Province's list
- Nearest grocery store
- Western Foods: 5.2 km
- Drive to the nearest grocery store
- About 9 minutes (8.2 km by road) to Village Food Markets
- Grocery stores within 10 km on Vancouver Island
- 2
- Nearest fire station
- Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department: 800 m, on the Province's list
- Nearest ambulance station
- Ambulance station 107, Sooke: 5 km
- Nearest police detachment or station
- Sooke RCMP: 5.4 km
- Nearest transfer station or landfill
- GFL Environmental (transfer station): 22 km
- Nearest post office
- Sooke Main: 5 km
- Postal area
- V9Z: an urban postal area: homes mostly get mail at the door or a community mailbox (our reading).
- Nearest gas station
- Petro-Canada: 5.1 km
- Nearest Service BC office
- Service BC - Victoria: 32 km
- Nearest floatplane base with scheduled flights
- Victoria Harbour Seaplane Base (YWH): 31 km
- Nearest airport with screened airline flights
- Victoria airport (YYJ): 40 km
- Vancouver International Airport (YVR), BC's main airport for flights abroad
- 101 km
- Nearest transit stop
- Kemp Lake Rd at Chubb Rd: 280 m, route 63; 4 departures on a weekday, none on Saturday, none on Sunday (BC Transit's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)
- Transit stops within 500 m
- 2
- Nearest park or protected area
- Sooke Potholes Park, a provincial park: 7.8 km from the lot line
- Nearest recreation site or trail
- Tansky, on Recreation Sites and Trails BC's list: 22 km from the lot line
Distances are straight lines from the middle of the lot, measured by us, except where a fact says by road.
Drive times are our reading: the quickest way over OpenStreetMap's roads at a typical speed for each kind of road (from 100 km/h on a freeway down to 20 on a track or a lane, and at most 40 on gravel), from the mapped road nearest the lot's middle. They count no traffic, weather, winter conditions, road closures or ferries, and a road missing from the map, or a gate, changes them: drive it before you rely on it. Here that road is about 100 m from the lot's middle.
Hospitals are from the Province's list; emergency departments and walk-in clinics from HealthLink BC's lists, with the hours they give. Not every hospital has a 24-hour emergency department, 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, so check before you rely on one. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.
Which school a child goes to depends on the school district's catchment, not on distance: ask the district.
French programs are from the Ministry's school list. French immersion usually takes students by application or lottery, often with its own boundary, and the Conseil scolaire francophone's schools are for children whose parents have the right to French-language education: ask the district which applies.
Child care is from the Province's Child Care Map Data, listed October 20, 2026: licensed facilities the Province funds, so a licensed one without that funding, or a licence-not-required carer, isn't on it. The ages served and any space are what each operator reports, and many list no ages. A space reported weeks ago may be gone: ask the facility about spaces and wait lists.
The fee reduction is the Province's Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI): a facility taking part charges lower monthly fees for children up to kindergarten age (our summary).
Licensed family child care is in the provider's own home, so we count it but don't name or place it. It's counted on a grid of about 1 km, so the count near 2 km is approximate (our reading).
A fire station nearby doesn't mean it covers this lot: confirm the fire protection area with the local government. Insurers price fire cover by the road distance to the hall that responds and whether the lot is inside a fire protection area.
Fire halls, ambulance stations and police are from the Province's First Responders list (updated 2026-09-11), with fire stations it lacks added from OpenStreetMap. A hall that has moved may still be listed at its old address.
An ambulance station is where crews are based. How soon one arrives depends on where the crew is when the call comes.
A detachment is where police are based; it isn't always the force that covers the lot, and a community policing office is often volunteer-run with no officers on hand. Ask the local government which police serve the lot. In an emergency, call 9-1-1.
Pharmacies are from HealthLink BC's list, with the hours it gives: a few pharmacies are in clinics or programs for their own patients, and hours change, so call ahead.
Transit stops and departures are counted by us from BC Transit's and TransLink's published schedules for one week, leaving out the stop where a trip ends. A stop's distance is a straight line from the middle of the lot; the walk is longer. Service changes with the seasons: check the timetable before you count on a route.
Parks and recreation sites are measured in a straight line from the lot line. Conservancies, regional and municipal parks aren't on these lists. Recreation Sites and Trails BC's list doesn't say whether a site is open, closed or reachable this season: check its page before you go.
Many rural lots have no garbage pickup: households take it to the regional district's transfer station or landfill. Ask the regional district about pickup, the site's hours and fees, and whether it takes what you'd bring. Rural mail is often a box at the post office, not delivered to the door: ask Canada Post.
Grocery stores, transfer stations, landfills, recycling depots, post offices, gas stations are from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers: one may be missing, closed or mapped in the wrong place, and a landfill may be closed without the map saying so (our reading).
The lot is on Vancouver Island, by our reading of the Province's island outlines. Where the lot's own island has a service, its nearest one is named first; one marked "across the water" is a ferry or boat ride away, however short the straight line.
The postal area is Statistics Canada's outline of where a postal code's first three characters are used, drawn from postal code points, so near its edge the lot may fall in the next one. It doesn't say how this lot's mail is delivered: ask Canada Post, and give a courier or online store the full postal code to see what they charge.
Airports with screened airline flights are the ones the CATSA Aerodrome Designation Regulations list, where the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority screens passengers, kept where OurAirports also lists scheduled flights (Dawson Creek is designated but has none listed). Smaller airports and floatplane bases with scheduled flights aren't screened and aren't on this list, so a nearer one may have flights: check with the airlines. Distances are straight lines; the drive, or a ferry, is longer.
Other airports and floatplane bases with scheduled flights are the ones OurAirports, a list its volunteers keep, marks with scheduled service; flights can be seasonal or few, so check with the airlines.
Confirm services with the local government.
Sources (17)
Hospitals in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Emergency Rooms in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Walk-in Clinics in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Schools K-12, Ministry of Education and Child Care (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Child Care Map Data, Child Care Programs and Services (listed 2026-10-20) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); First Responders (fire halls, ambulance stations and police), GeoBC (updated 2026-09-11) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pharmacies in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Service BC Office Locations, Service BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Grocery stores, transfer stations, landfills, recycling depots, post offices, gas stations and fire stations not on the Province's list: OpenStreetMap as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database Licence (ODbL)); Drive times: our reading of OpenStreetMap's roads as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (Open Database Licence (ODbL)); BC Transit schedules (GTFS), read 2026-10-12 (BC Transit Open Data Terms of Use); BC Parks, Ecological Reserves, and Protected Areas, BC Parks and GeoBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Recreation Sites (Subset), Recreation Sites and Trails BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Forward sortation area boundary file, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); CATSA Aerodrome Designation Regulations (SOR/2002-180), Schedule, as modified 2026-09-28 (Reproduced under the Reproduction of Federal Law Order); OurAirports (airport points and scheduled service), as of 2026-10-15 (Public domain); Freshwater Atlas Islands, GeoBC (sea islands, as of 2026-10-13) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
How school catchments work in BC →
Home insurance: what an insurer asks about the hall, the hydrant, the stove and the wiring →
Transit: what the schedules count, and what they leave out →
Child care: what the Province's list counts, and the fee programs →
§20Internet For reference
Within about 1 km of the lot, ISED's broadband data records 50/10 Mbps or faster over a wired line and over fixed wireless. LTE mobile coverage is recorded there too.
The record
- Best speed recorded within about 1 km
- 50/10 Mbps or faster
- Over a wired line (cable, fibre or DSL)
- 50/10 Mbps or faster
- Over fixed wireless
- 50/10 Mbps or faster
- LTE mobile within about 1 km
- recorded
- Nearest place with 50/10 Mbps or faster
- within about 1 km (about 100 m)
- Data
- ISED National Broadband Data, May 2026
- Mobile carriers listed in the area around the lot (about 25 km²)
- Bell and Telus (one shared network), Rogers, Freedom Mobile (ISED, reported, not a guarantee at the lot)
- Nearest FM radio transmitter
- CBCV-FM-1, 99.5 MHz FM, 64 W, at Metchosin/Sooke, about 16 km to the east; hills about 2.4 km away rise to 4.1° in its direction, above the line to the antenna: likely blocked by the bare ground (our reading)
- Nearest TV transmitter
- CHNM-DT-1, TV channel 29 (digital), 2.8 kW, at Victoria, about 34 km to the east; hills about 2.4 km away rise to 4° in its direction, above the line to the antenna: likely blocked by the bare ground (our reading)
- Bell satellite TV dish sightline
- 82° W sits 22° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 20°; 91.1° W sits 26° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 25° (terrain only; our reading)
- Shaw Direct satellite TV dish sightline
- 107.3° W sits 32° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 30°; 111.1° W sits 33° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 32° (terrain only; our reading)
- Starlink: sky hidden by the hills
- The hills stay under 20° all round, so terrain shouldn't block it (trees and buildings not counted; our reading)
This is the service providers report to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) for homes and roads near the lot, not a quote: ask providers whether they serve this address, at what speed and at what cost to connect.
Speeds are download/upload bands. 50/10 Mbps is ISED's top band, so a place in it can get much faster service, and it is the CRTC's target for every Canadian home.
A line that reaches homes within 1 km may stop short of this lot; bringing it further can cost the buyer. Fixed wireless and LTE need a clear line to the tower, which hills and tall trees can block.
Satellite service doesn't need nearby lines, but it needs a clear view of the sky.
Distances are straight lines from the middle of the lot, measured by us on a grid of about 250 m.
Mobile carriers are those Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) lists for mobile service in its hexagon of about 25 km² holding the lot's middle; ISED counts LTE and 5G together and doesn't say how much of the hexagon a carrier covers, so a listed carrier may not reach the lot, the house or the valley floor. Cell tower positions aren't open data. Ask the carriers, or try a phone on site.
Broadcast transmitters are from ISED's Spectrum Management System extract: the nearest FM and TV transmitters in operation within 50 km of the lot's middle, with their effective radiated power. Whether the bare ground blocks the line is our reading on the elevation model the Winter sun section reads (out to 16 km round the lot; hills beyond it aren't counted); trees, buildings and an antenna's height on the house aren't, and reception also depends on power, distance and the receiver.
Satellite sightlines are our reading: each geostationary satellite's place in the sky from the lot's middle (Telesat's orbital slots, read 2026-10-13) set against the skyline the Winter sun section reads on NRCan's elevation model, in 72 directions out to 16 km. Trees and buildings, which most often decide whether a dish sees its satellite, aren't counted, and a dish can sit higher or elsewhere on the lot. Starlink asks for a clear view of the sky from about 20° above the horizon and picks its own direction: its app's obstruction check on site is the real test.
Sources (6)
National Broadband Data (May 2026), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), ISED (Open Government Licence – Canada); National Broadband Data, mobile providers by hexagon (2026-05-05), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Spectrum Management System Authorization Data Extract: Broadcast Service (2026-10-05), ISED (Open Government Licence – Canada); Geostationary fleet and orbital slots, Telesat (facts from the page, read 2026-10-13); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).
What the internet figures mean, and what to ask a provider →
§22Soil for farming For reference
Mapped mostly as Class 3 of 7 for farming: moderate limits; fewer crops, or more work to grow them. Main limits: too wet (high water table), dense or slow-draining soil. With drainage the map rates it Class 2.
The record
- Capability class (1 best, 7 none)
- Class 3: about 100% of the lot
- What limits it
- too wet (high water table), dense or slow-draining soil
- Improved rating
- Class 2, assuming drainage
- Map scale
- 1:20,000 to 1:100,000: describes the area, not the field
- Mapped
- 1960s to 1990s (digitised 2015)
These classes rate how well the land suits ordinary field crops, from the soil and climate as surveyed decades ago. Drainage, irrigation or fill since then can change the real answer, and a map at this scale can miss a good or poor field. The Agricultural Land Commission weighs these classes when it decides applications.
If farming matters to you here, a professional agrologist (P.Ag.) can assess the soil on site.
Source: Agriculture Capability mapping, Province of BC (1960s to 1990s maps, digitised 2015) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
What the soil capability classes mean, and what they leave out →
§23Climate For reference
At William Head, 19 km from the lot, January averages 5.7 °C and July 16.4 °C, with 14 cm of snow and 944 mm of rain and snow a year (1981-2010 normals, based on fewer years than the WMO standard). The lot is at about the same elevation as the station. At the Colwood City Hall station, 23 km away, fine particles passed the level of BC's air objective on a median of 2 days a year (2015 to 2025).
The record
- Nearest climate station
- William Head, 19 km away
- Station elevation
- 12 m
- Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)
- 44 m
- January mean temperature (1981-2010)
- 5.7 °C*
- July mean temperature (1981-2010)
- 16.4 °C*
- Yearly precipitation, rain and snow as water (1981-2010)
- 944 mm*
- Yearly snowfall (1981-2010)
- 14 cm*
- Days with snow on the ground, 1 cm or more (1981-2010)
- 2 days a year, 1 day of them in January*
- Days a year over 30 °C (1981-2010)
- under half a day, no days of them over 35 °C*
- Wettest day in the station's record to 2010
- 91.6 mm of rain and melted snow, November 9, 1990
- Most snow in a day in the station's record to 2010
- 26 cm, December 27, 1996
- Deepest snow on the ground in the station's record to 2010
- 49 cm, December 28, 1996
- Heating degree days, below 18 °C (1981-2010)
- 2,763 a year*
- Growing degree days, above 5 °C (1981-2010)
- 2,083 a year; 782 above 10 °C*
- Period
- 1981-2010
- Plant hardiness zone (regional)
- 8b
- By the 2050s, days a year over 30 °C (model projection, SSP2-4.5)
- About 2 more days over 30 °C a year than in the same models' 1971-2000
- By the 2050s, longest frost-free run (model projection, SSP2-4.5)
- A longest frost-free run about 60 days longer than in the same models' 1971-2000
- By the 2050s, winter precipitation falling as snow (model projection, SSP2-4.5)
- About 6 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow than in the same models' 1971-2000
- Days with fine particles over BC's air objective level
- A median of 2 days a year at the Colwood City Hall station, 23 km away (2015 to 2025); the most was 8 days in 2020, most in September
- Lightning near the lot (1998-2025 average)
- A cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 1 day a year; 0.01 flashes per km² a year, less than at 3 in 4 BC homes
Normals are 30-year averages at the station, not readings for this lot. In BC's mountains a few hundred metres of elevation, a north-facing slope or a lakeshore can change winters a lot: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than a valley station.
The lot's elevation is our estimate from Natural Resources Canada's 30 m elevation model at the middle of the lot.
The hardiness zone is from Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map, read by us on a grid of about 2 to 3 km: near a zone's edge, or well above or below the valley around it, the lot may fall in the next zone. It is a guide to which plants survive the winter, not a frost date.
* 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.
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.
ECCC's 1981-2010 normals for this station don't include the frost-free period or the lowest temperature recorded, so those are left out rather than guessed.
A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below or above a base, added up over the year. Heating degree days below 18 °C follow how much a home needs heating: a place with 5,000 needs roughly half again the heat of one with 3,300, for the same house. Growing degree days above 5 °C (10 °C for warm-season crops such as corn and grapes) follow how much warmth plants get to grow.
Model projections, not predictions of the weather: the median of 26 climate models downscaled by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (CanDCS-M6), for 2041-2070 under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions. Each is given as the change from the same models' 1971-2000, not against a station's normals: in the mountains the models' figures can sit well off a valley station's, and the change between the two periods says more than either number. The frost-free run is the longest stretch of days with the low at or above 0 °C. The share of winter's precipitation falling as snow is our reading: each model's December to February snowfall over its precipitation, then the median across the models.
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. The models' own figures here, for setting against each other only: about 2 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 1 to 5 across the models), against about under 1 in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 285 days (range 270 to 335), against about 225; and about 2% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 2% to 4%), against about 8%. The range runs from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figure; it isn't a range of the change.
At the Colwood City Hall station, 23 km away, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 2 days a year over the 11 years with a full record, 2015 to 2025; the most was 8 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).
The days are counted by us from the Province's verified hourly readings: a day counts when the station has 18 or more valid hours and their mean is over 25 µg/m³, the level of BC's Ambient Air Quality Objective for fine particles over 24 hours (the Province judges the objective itself on a year's 98th percentile of daily averages, not on single days), and a year counts when the station ran most of it, July to September included. They are the station's days, not this lot's: smoke drifts unevenly, and a lot up a valley or across a lake from the station can be clearer or smokier.
BC's air quality advisories and the Air Quality Health Index say what the air is like now; a HEPA filter and a home with a ventilation system that can recirculate help on smoky days.
Lightning is the Canadian Lightning Detection Network's cloud-to-ground flashes, averaged over 1998-2025, on Environment and Climate Change Canada's grid of 0.1 degrees (about 11 km north to south and 7 km east to west in BC): it is the area's lightning, not the lot's. A day counts when a flash fell in a grid cell whose middle is within 10 km of the middle of the lot's cell, by the Pacific standard time day (our reading); flashes per km² are for the lot's own cell. Set among BC's homes by Statistics Canada's 2021 dwellings on ISED's points. Lightning starts fires and can damage a well pump, panels or wiring on high open ground; ask an electrician about surge protection.
ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for this station, so these are its 1981-2010 normals; recent years have run warmer than them in most of BC. Ask neighbours or the local government about snow on the road and who clears it.
Sources (7)
Canadian Climate Normals 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), 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); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Juan de Fuca (Part 1): climate, land and census facts (PlaceDossier area page).
What a plant hardiness zone means →
Climate projections for the 2050s: what the models say, and what they can't →
Wood stoves and wood heat: the Province's rules, local bylaws and winter air →
§24Radon For reference
Radon isn't mapped lot by lot. In the South Vancouver Island health region, 1 of the 55 homes tested (1.8%) 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 record
- Health region (regional figure, not this lot)
- South Vancouver Island
- Homes tested here
- 55
- At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)
- 1 (1.8%)
- At or above 600 Bq/m³
- None
- Across BC
- 143 of 1,817 homes (7.9%) at or above the guideline
Radon comes up from the ground and differs from one house to the next, even next door, so a regional figure says nothing certain about one home. The only way to know is a long-term test of at least 3 months. Health Canada's guideline is 200 Bq/m³ in the parts of a home where people spend more than 4 hours a day; above it, fix it within a year, and the higher the level, the sooner. For a home you buy, Health Canada suggests a long-term test once you've moved in.
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 survey grouped homes by the 2007 health regions; we place the lot by today's boundaries for the same areas.
Sources (5)
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); Radon guideline, Health Canada (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-02); Testing your home for radon, Health Canada (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-02); Radon in real estate, Health Canada (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-02).
§25Property tax For reference
This lot is in Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, where the Province collects the property tax. Every home there pays at least $2.95 to $3.10 per $1,000 of assessed value at 2026 rates: about $2,946 to $3,096 a year on a $1,000,000 home, before the home owner grant. Local service areas such as fire protection add more where they cover the lot, so its full rate is unclear here; the tax notice lists them.
- Regional district (the electoral area's share) $0.82
- Regional hospital district $0.12
- School (set by the Province) $1.13
- Provincial rural tax $0.39
- Police tax $0.09
- Other $0.40
On $500,000: at least about $1,473 to $1,548 a year; on $1,000,000: at least about $2,946 to $3,096, at 2026 rates, before the home owner grant.
The record
- Collected by
- The Province (rural area), for Juan de Fuca Electoral Area
- Rate every home pays, 2026
- 2.94604 to 3.09638 per $1,000
- Regional district (the electoral area's share)
- 0.81781 per $1,000
- Regional hospital district
- 0.12247 per $1,000
- School (set by the Province)
- 1.1316 to 1.2843 per $1,000
- Provincial rural tax
- 0.3861 per $1,000
- Police tax
- 0.088 per $1,000
- Other
- 0.3977 per $1,000
- Local service areas
- Unclear for this lot: they cover parts of the area, up to 0.90414 per $1,000 each
- Full rate for this lot
- Unclear
The Province's rural rates don't say which local service areas (fire protection, recreation, street lighting, water, improvement districts, the Islands Trust) cover which lots, so they're left out of the rate above. Ask the Province's Surveyor of Taxes, or the seller for the latest tax notice. The rate is a range because the area spans more than one tax jurisdiction or school district.
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.
Sources: The Surveyor of Taxes' rural tax rates, 2026, 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).
How property tax works in BC, and what else goes on the bill →
The home owner grant: who gets it, how much, and applying each year →
Property transfer tax: what you pay when you buy, and the exemptions →
§27Crime For reference
Inferred, the nearest RCMP rural detachment Statistics Canada publishes (about 5 km away in a straight line; the one that polices this spot may be another): the Sooke RCMP detachment (rural) reported a crime severity index of 61 in 2025, below BC's 92; down 6% since 2015 (BC unchanged).
- Sooke 61
- BC 92
The record
- Police service
- The Sooke RCMP detachment (rural; inferred)
- Crime severity index, 2025
- 61 (BC 92)
- Violent / non-violent index
- 77 / 54 (BC 98 / 91)
- Crime severity index, 2015
- 64 (BC 93)
- Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025
- 156 (BC 281)
- Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025
- 87 (BC 138)
- Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025
- 277 (BC 441)
- Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025
- 2,079 (BC 1,531)
- All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 2025
- 5,354 (BC 6,943)
Inferred: the nearest RCMP rural detachment Statistics Canada publishes figures for, about 5 km away. BC's police boundaries aren't open data, so the detachment that actually polices this spot 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.
In BC only Surrey, the Township of Langley, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam publish reported property crime block by block under an open licence; reports there count what was reported within 500 m of the lot. The police here don't, so the figures above are for the whole area they cover.
Police calls to a particular address aren't published in BC (privacy law keeps police records about identifiable people closed), and neither is whether a home was used as a grow-op or drug lab: where a council acted on one, its order or a note on the title can show it. Ask the seller for the Property Disclosure Statement, and your lawyer for the title search.
Sources: 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).
What police-reported crime figures say about a place, and what isn't public →
Was this house a grow op? What the records show, and what the seller must say →
Nothing found6
Checked, and nothing on the record here.
§01Road access Nothing found
A mapped public road runs along or through the parcel: Kemp Lake Road (main road, paved) and Chubb Road (local road, paved). Kemp Lake Road and Chubb Road are provincial roads the Ministry of Transportation's contractor maintains, snow clearing included.
The recordroads on the plan
- Roads along the parcel
- Kemp Lake Road (main road, paved); Chubb Road (local road, paved)
- Nearest public road
- Along the parcel
- Who maintains the road
- Kemp Lake Road and Chubb Road are on the Ministry of Transportation's road inventory: provincial roads that its maintenance contractor for service area 1 (Vancouver Island district) maintains, snow clearing included. How soon a road is cleared after a storm depends on the winter class the Ministry gives it; its district office can say which. Other roads along the lot, if any, aren't on the inventory.
- Forest Service and permit roads (100 m)
- None within 100 m on the Ministry of Forests' road tenure map.
Worked out by us from OpenStreetMap road lines: a road whose centreline is within 25 m of the lot line is counted as running along it. The map isn't proof of legal access: a road can be private, unbuilt or not maintained in winter, and reaching a lot across someone else's land needs a registered easement. The title search and the local government (or the Ministry of Transportation outside towns) confirm both.
Sources (3)
OpenStreetMap road data as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Ministry of Transportation Road Features Inventory and District Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Forest Tenure Road Segment Lines, Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
§06Evacuation orders and alerts Nothing found
No evacuation order or alert has covered this lot since the Province's record began in April 2017.
The record
- Events with an order over the lot since April 2017
- 0
- Events with only an alert
- 0
The Province's record of lifted orders and alerts starts in April 2017: evacuations before then aren't in it, and no record doesn't mean nothing happened. Each area is drawn by the local government or First Nation that issued it; we check whether it covers any part of the lot. Where the record's own dates disagree (an order dated before the event began), only the month and year are given. Confirm with the local government.
Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Evacuation Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
§07Water and streamside setbacks Nothing found
No mapped stream, lake, river, wetland or shoreline within 30 m of the parcel.
The recordwater and 30 m strip on the plan
- Within 30 m
- None mapped
- On the parcel
- None mapped
The Freshwater Atlas is mapped at 1:20,000: small, seasonal or ditched streams can be missing. Look for water on the ground and ask the local government whether it has finer mapping.
Source: Freshwater Atlas (streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, coastline), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
§11Mineral and placer titles Nothing found
No mineral or placer titles on or within 1 km of the parcel. A mineral reserve over all or part of the lot stops new mineral, placer and coal titles being registered there (set for First Nations' interests).
The record
- Over the parcel
- None
- Within 1 km
- None
- Mineral reserve over the lot
- A no registration reserve (for First Nations' interests, since 2008): no new mineral, placer and coal titles can be registered
Titles change often; this is the record when checked. Mineral Titles Online shows the current map.
A mineral reserve is set by regulation of the chief gold commissioner (Mineral Tenure Act s. 22). A no registration reserve stops new titles of the kinds it names being registered on that land; a conditional one allows them only on the terms the regulation sets, such as not interfering with a dam, line or pipeline. A reserve doesn't cancel titles registered before it, and it can be changed or cancelled by a later regulation. Our summary, checked 2026-10-12.
Sources (3)
Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral Reserve Sites, Mineral Titles Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral Tenure Act, s. 22 (mineral reserves), BC Laws (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-12).
§12What's planned nearby Nothing found
No logging, Crown land applications or heavy Crown land uses on record within 1 km. No major project in assessment or approved within 10 km on the Environmental Assessment Office's register.
The record
- Cutblocks applied for (1 km)
- 0
- Approved, not yet logged (1 km)
- 0
- Logged in the last 5 years (1 km)
- 0
- Old growth set aside from logging (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's map of legal old growth management areas
- Trails on the Province's maps (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's recreation trail and historic trail maps, and no OpenStreetMap path along or across the lot
- Woodlots and community forests (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's map of woodlot licences and community forests
- Tree farm licences (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's map of tree farm licences
- Crown land applications (1 km)
- None
- Quarry, industry, energy or tower tenures (500 m)
- None
- Along the lot line
- No parcel mapped along about 70% of the lot line (the east, south and west sides), most often a road allowance, water or Crown land the parcel map doesn't draw (our reading); private land along about 30% of the lot line (the north side)
- Rights of way and easements drawn on the lot
- None drawn on ParcelMap BC; a charge with no plan can still be on the title, so ask for it
- Wildlife conservation land (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's map
- Crown land reserves and notations (1 km)
- Designated use area (Land Act s. 17) for a treaty, file 1413278: no expiry date, along the lot line (our reading); Notation of interest for watershed protection, file 0327067: no expiry date, 50 m from the lot line; Notation of interest for a use the register doesn't name, file 1407382: no expiry date, 480 m from the lot line
- Local development applications
- Not covered here: we read applications only where the local government publishes them as open data (the CSRD, the City of Surrey, the City of Abbotsford and the District of Squamish). Ask the Capital Regional District what's in progress on and near the lot
- Crown range tenures (1 km)
- None within 1 km on the Province's map
- Registered trapline
- The lot is inside trapline area TR0103T107 on the Province's map
- Guide outfitter territory
- The lot is inside guiding territory 100G104 (Vancouver Island region) on the Province's map
- Nearest power line (200 m)
- None mapped within 200 m
- Oil and gas pipelines (200 m)
- None within 200 m on the BC Energy Regulator's permit map
- Gravel pits, quarries and mine permits (2 km)
- None within 2 km on the Province's map
- Permitted discharges to air, water and land (2 km)
- None on the Province's list
- Military land (2 km)
- None within 2 km on OpenStreetMap
- Major projects in assessment (10 km)
- None
- Major projects approved (10 km)
- None
- Reviewed, no assessment needed (10 km)
- None
- Closed or not reviewable (10 km)
- None
Cutblocks are from the province's forest tenure records, which cover Crown forest licences and woodlots, not logging on private land. Crown land applications are on the province's tenure register; the Applications, Comments and Reasons for Decision site takes public comments on them. Mineral and placer claims are in their own section above.
Some landscape units have no mapped areas and keep old forest by a share set in a provincial order instead, so none on the map doesn't mean the forest nearby can be logged. Our summary, read 2026-10-11.
Who owns the land beside the lot is ParcelMap BC's owner type for each parcel that shares the lot line (measured by us along the line); the open parcel map names no owners. Crown land beside a lot, with a title or without, can be logged, leased, grazed or roaded, and a view or trail across it isn't yours to keep; ask the natural resource district or FrontCounter BC. Land owned by the local government is often a park, a road allowance or a utility lot; ask the local government what it's for.
The Province can set Crown land aside for a purpose, such as a gravel source, a road, a communication site, recreation or a treaty. Cabinet can reserve it by order in council (Land Act s. 15); the minister can withdraw it from disposition for a time, a map reserve (s. 16), or designate it for one use, a designated use area, which withdraws it from any use that doesn't fit (s. 17). A notation of interest isn't a reserve: it marks another agency's interest, so that agency is asked before the Province decides an application there (our reading). While a reserve or map reserve stands, the Province may refuse even to receive an application for that land (s. 10 (3)), so buying a piece of it to add to a lot, or leasing it, most likely won't work (our reading); in a designated use area only a use that fits its purpose is weighed. The agency it's set aside for can be allowed to build there, such as a gravel pit or a road (ss. 15 (3), 16 (2)), and a reserve can be changed or cancelled (ss. 15 (5), 16 (4), 17 (3)). A reserve gives no date for when its purpose is used, if ever. Our summary of the Land Act, read 2026-10-12.
A trapline gives its registered holder the right to trap fur-bearing animals in the area, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land the owner or occupier may trap, and anyone else needs their written permission (Wildlife Act ss. 41, 42); trapping on cultivated land without the owner's consent is an offence (s. 39). Traps and trappers' trails are likely on the Crown land around the lot. The trapline map's lines are broad and are drawn over private land too (our reading). Our summary of the Wildlife Act, read 2026-10-07.
A guiding territory lets one guide outfitter take hunters for game in that area. It gives no right in wildlife and doesn't restrict anyone else's right to hunt (Wildlife Act s. 67); hunting over cultivated land needs the owner's consent (s. 39), and the Trespass Act governs who may come onto private land. Guided hunters may be on the Crown land nearby in season. Our summary of the Wildlife Act, read 2026-10-07.
Who holds a trapline or territory isn't shown here; the Province's regional Fish and Wildlife office can say who to talk to.
Major projects are those large enough to need a provincial environmental assessment: mines, power plants, pipelines, transmission lines, highways, ports, dams and resorts, among others. Each is on the Environmental Assessment Office's register at a single point, the location it gives for the project. A mine, pipeline, transmission line or road can reach well past that point, so a project listed 8 km away can still pass the lot, and one placed beyond 10 km isn't listed here. Each project's page on the EAO's site has its maps, documents and comment periods; distances are measured by us from the lot line to the point. Smaller projects (subdivisions, smaller pits and quarries, and other works under the assessment thresholds) aren't on this register.
Power lines are from two maps read together: the Province's map of high-voltage transmission lines (BC Hydro's, private and independent producers' lines), which leaves voltages out, and OpenStreetMap, where volunteers map lines and record the voltage where it's known. Smaller distribution lines along streets aren't included. Distances are measured by us from the lot line to the mapped line, which can sit some metres off the real one. The line's right of way, and what it lets the line's owner do on the land, is set by the easement on title, which is the definitive record: check it in the title search, and ask BC Hydro (or the line's owner) about clearances for building and trees.
Sources (24)
Forest tenure cutblock polygons (FTA 4.0), Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); TANTALIS Crown tenures, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Environmental Assessment Office project points (EPIC), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Old Growth Management Areas - Legal - Current, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Landscape unit plans (old growth management areas), Province of BC (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-11); Recreation Lines, Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Historic Trails of British Columbia and Historic Trail Areas, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); OpenStreetMap paths as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Forest Tenure Managed Licence, Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); FADM - Tree Farm License Agreement Boundary (TFL), Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); ParcelMap BC parcel fabric (parcel class and owner type), Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Conservation Lands, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); TANTALIS Crown Land Reserves and Notations, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Land Act, RSBC 1996, c. 245, ss. 10, 15, 16 and 17 (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-12); Range Tenure Polygons, Ministry of Forests (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Traplines of British Columbia, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Guide Outfitter Areas, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Wildlife Act, RSBC 1996, c. 488, ss. 39, 41, 42 and 67 (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-07); BC Transmission Lines (BC Hydro, private and independent power producers' lines), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); OpenStreetMap power lines as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Oil and Gas Pipeline Segment Permits, BC Energy Regulator (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Notice of Work (NoW) – Permitted Mine Areas – Regional Mine – Public, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Waste Discharge Authorizations – All Authorizations, Province of BC (file of 2026-07-22) (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); OpenStreetMap military land as of 2026-10-18, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Power lines near a lot: rights of way, building, trees and health →
Getting power to a lot: who connects it and who pays →
Traplines and guiding territories: who may trap or hunt on the land →
Hunting and shooting on your own property: what still applies →
Crown land next door: what it means, and whether you can buy it →
§26Speculation and vacancy tax Nothing found
This lot is outside any municipality, in the Capital Regional District's electoral areas, and no electoral area is in the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area outside Metro Vancouver, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here.
The record
- Place
- this rural area
- In the taxable area
- No
Sources: Taxable areas for the speculation and vacancy tax, Province of BC (page updated December 8, 2025) (summarised in our words); Speculation and vacancy tax rates and exemptions, Province of BC (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-04).
Where the speculation and vacancy tax applies, and who pays →
Not covered here1
What these public records can't answer for this lot.
§02What you can build (zoning) Not covered here
We can't name this lot's zone: the Capital Regional District isn't among the local governments whose zoning maps we read, which are those published under an open licence.
The recordthe lot on the plan
- Heritage conservation area
- None over the lot on the Province's list of local heritage conservation areas (a newly designated one may not be listed yet, and single buildings protected by a heritage bylaw aren't on it)
- Fewest homes provincial law requires
- Adds no homes here: the lot is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, where the Agricultural Land Commission's limits on homes come first (usually one secondary suite or accessory home at most, and some need the Commission's approval).
- Transit-oriented area (provincial minimum)
- Not in one: the Province sets transit-oriented areas only around the SkyTrain, West Coast Express and bus exchange stations its regulations list, in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Delta, the Langleys, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, the North Vancouvers, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Nanaimo, Lantzville, Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, Penticton, Prince George and Whistler, and this lot is outside a municipality (B.C. Reg. 263/2023, checked 2026-10-06).
- Short-term rentals (provincial rule)
- The Province's principal residence requirement doesn't apply in the Capital Regional District's Juan de Fuca Electoral Area (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.
We cover local governments that publish their zoning map under an open licence, in the Thompson-Nicola, Columbia Shuswap, East Kootenay, North Okanagan, Central Okanagan, Nanaimo and Sunshine Coast regional districts and cities from Surrey to Fort St. John (list on the Data sources page). Ask the local government which zone applies here.
The provincial floor is our summary of the small-scale multi-unit housing rules in the Local Government Act (ss. 481.3 and 481.4) and the Local Government Zoning Bylaw Regulation, checked 2026-10-04. Local governments had to bring their bylaws in line by June 30, 2024, and with the 2025 changes by June 30, 2026, so the zone's own rules usually allow at least these homes already; height, coverage, setbacks and parking still decide how they fit. Whether the lot is inside an urban containment boundary, on community water or sewer, or near a frequent bus stop isn't checked here: confirm with the local government before you buy or build.
Sources (8)
Heritage Conservation Areas of BC, Heritage Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Local Government Act, ss. 481.3 and 481.4 (small-scale multi-family housing), BC Laws (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); Local Government Zoning Bylaw Regulation, B.C. Reg. 262/2023, BC Laws (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); Small-scale, multi-unit housing, Province of BC (page updated January 20, 2026), and its Provincial Policy Manual (summarised in our words); Local Government Transit-Oriented Areas Regulation, B.C. Reg. 263/2023 (consolidated to September 29, 2026), BC Laws (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); Local Government Act, s. 481.01 (zoning in transit-oriented areas), BC Laws (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); Principal residence requirement, Province of BC (page updated September 21, 2026) (summarised in our words); Electoral Areas – Legally Defined Administrative Areas of BC, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Short-term rental rules in BC →
Work done without a permit: what it means for a buyer →
Official records on a property: what's public, and how to look them up →
What a seller must tell you, and what you have to find out yourself →
§28Questions to ask
Built from what these records found, plus the basics for any purchase. Tick them off as you go (this browser remembers them; nothing is sent to us), or print the page.
For what we found
For what this report flags under Look into: what it found, then the questions it raises and whom to ask. Start here.
The report All or part of this parcel is in the Agricultural Land Reserve. Farmland reserve (ALR)
- Ask the seller or their agent
- Ask the local government
Worth confirming
The report has a lead on these, quoted above the questions it bears on: ask to confirm it holds for this lot.
The report Nearest fire station: Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department, 800 m, on the Province's list (in a straight line). Services nearby
- Ask your insurer
The report Within about 1 km of the lot, ISED's broadband data records 50/10 Mbps or faster over a wired line and over fixed wireless. Internet
- Ask the seller or their agent
No answer yet
The public records don't answer these: ask.
The seller or their agent
The local government
Your lawyer or notary
Your home inspector or a specialist
The school district
Find the people
Official public registers: find someone near you, or check that the one you've found is licensed. No one pays to be listed.
- Lawyer · title search, conveyancing, easements and covenants
Law Society of BC lawyer directory - Notary · conveyancing and title search
Society of Notaries Public of BC roll of notaries - Land surveyor · lot lines, building locations, a survey certificate
Association of BC Land Surveyors member directory - Well driller or pump installer · a new well, a flow test, pump work
BC register of well drillers and well pump installers - Septic practitioner · septic inspection, design and installation
ASTTBC registrant directory (pick ROWP under Sub Class) - Agrologist · soil, farm capability and ALR applications
BC Institute of Agrologists directory of registrants
Buying from outside Canada or through a company, or working out the property transfer tax: AcreScout sets out who can buy land in BC and what the transfer tax comes to. Confirm with your lawyer or notary.
§29The parcel record
- Parcel type
- Subdivision
- Owner type
- Private
- Plan
- VIP19985
- Mapped area
- 1.57 ha (3.87 acres)
Mapped area is from ParcelMap BC and can differ from the surveyed area on title. Owner names, assessed values and title charges aren't public data; a title search at the Land Title and Survey Authority shows easements, covenants and liens.
Source: ParcelMap BC parcel fabric (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), updated 2019-01-05.
§30Names on the map
14 official place names within 5 km of the lot.
The names (14)
- Kemp Lake, 900 m east · official since 1934
- Kemp Stream, 2 km southeast · official since 1950
- King Creek, 2 km southwest · official since 1978
- Sooke Bay, 2.4 km southeast · official since 1924
- Poirier Lake, 2.6 km northeast · official since 1934
- Broom Hill, mountain, 2.6 km east · official since 1924
- Otter Point, 3.2 km southwest · official since 1924
- Gordons Beach, 3.3 km southwest · official since 1980
- Orveas Creek, 3.5 km west · official since 1966
- McKenzie Lake, 3.6 km northeast · official since 1978
- Young Lake, 3.6 km northeast · official since 1934
- T'Sou-ke 2, reserve, 3.8 km southeast · official since 1998
And 2 more within 5 km.
Official names from the Canadian Geographical Names Database, measured by us from each name's point to the lot's middle; a creek's or a range's point is one spot on it. Many BC names have origin notes (who or what a name recalls, when it was adopted) on BC Geographical Names: each linked name opens its page there. Old newspapers on UBC's BC Historical Newspapers can be searched for the nearest community; its terms allow research or private study.
Source: Canadian Geographical Names Database (Natural Resources Canada), via the GeoNames API (OGL-Canada).
Land for sale nearby
The 5 nearest listings on AcreScout within 25 km, nearest first.
| Listing | Asking price | Size | Per acre | From the lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3799 Otter Point RdSooke, listed 52 days ago | $6,999,900 | 558.9 acres | $12,525 an acre | 700 m |
| Lot 1 3542 Otter Point RdSooke, listed 149 days ago | $379,000 | 2.47 acres | $153,441 an acre | 1.4 km |
| Lot 5 3542 Otter Point RdSooke, listed 155 days ago | $399,000 | 2.47 acres | $161,538 an acre | 1.4 km |
| 7995 West Coast RdSooke, listed 11 days ago | $2,750,000 | 1.1 acres | $2,500,000 an acre | 1.9 km |
| Lot 43 Tugwell RdSooke, listed 309 days ago | $2,500,000 | 63 acres | $39,683 an acre | 2.5 km |
Distances are straight lines from the lot's middle 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 2026-10-20. Asking prices set by the sellers; not a valuation.
Checked 2026-10-20. General information from public records, not an inspection, survey, appraisal or legal advice. Confirm with the local government and a professional before you buy or build.