151 Hoylake Rd E, Qualicum Beach

Clear of steep slope and water setbacks

1,390 m² (98%)

In or within 30 m of mapped water

0%

Steeper than 30%, outside that strip

2%

15 to 30% slope

12%

On designated floodplain (counted as clear)

0%

Median slope

7%

Main slope direction

Mostly faces north-east (51% 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

0% south (SE to SW), 32% north (NW to NE), 42% 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

Fossils recorded within 5 km

One published collection: mammals from the Dashwood Drift Formation, Pleistocene, about 50 thousand years ago; near the lot as given, its position only to the nearest minute (up to about 2 km off).

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, one dot on the plan per cell. 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.

December 21 (shortest day)

7 h of possible direct sun; 8 h on open ground

March 21 (about the same on September 21)

11 h 40 min; 12 h on open ground

June 21 (longest day)

16 h; 16 h on open ground

Noon sun on December 21

17° above level; the hills due south rise to 5°, 0.1 km away

Highest hills in the winter sun's path

5° above level to the south, 0.1 km away

Measured at

The middle of the lot, ground at about 20 m, from head height

Solar panel output (south-facing, tilted at the latitude)

About 970 kWh a year for each kW of panels (December about 30), on Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map; the sun on the panel's face is 3.53 kWh/m² a day over the year, 1.29 in December

Water the ground lets you see (16 km)

The sea (our reading of the elevation model) to the north, from about 750 m away, across about 115° of the horizon

Highest skyline

5° above level to the south, 0.1 km away

Named peaks in view (150 km)

Mount Dione to the east-northeast, 96 km away (about 2,497 m); Mount Tantalus to the east-northeast, 96 km away (about 2,497 m); Alpha Mountain to the east-northeast, 98 km away (about 2,223 m); Overlook Mountain to the north-northeast, 82 km away (about 1,865 m); Mount Drew to the northeast, 66 km away (about 1,800 m); and 47 more

Highest ground in view

About 2,497 m: Mount Dione, to the east-northeast, 96 km away

Farthest ground in view

About 147 km to the north-northwest

Most relief in one direction

To the north-northeast: from sea level, 0.8 km away, up to about 1,744 m, 82 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 12% of the direct sun on December 21 (our figure above), so a panel at the lot's middle would most likely make less than this, most of all in winter (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.

Capability class (1 best, 7 none)

Class 5: about 100% of the lot

What limits it

soil holds little water

Improved rating

Class 3, assuming the improvements the map judged practical

Map scale

1:50,000: 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.

Dams nearby

None within 1 km on the Province's list of dams

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.

Fires on the parcel

0

Fires within 2 km

6

Within 2 km in the last 30 years

0

Most recent nearby

1938 (4 ha, caused by people)

Largest nearby

1919 (513 ha, caused by people)

Causes on record within 2 km

6 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 Douglas-fir zone, moist maritime subzone (CDFmm)

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.

Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years (the code's design level)

0.49 g

Peak ground acceleration, 10% in 50 years

0.24 g

Short-period shaking Sa(0.2), the value the code uses for houses and other low buildings

1.16 g

Peak ground acceleration, 2% in 50 years, on softer ground

0.52 g on stiff soil (site class D), 0.52 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

7 within 50 km and 67 within 100 km

Largest within 100 km

M4.9 in June 2001, about 95 km away (NRCan: West coast Vancouver Island, BC)

Nearest of magnitude 3 or more

M3.0 in March 1998, about 15 km away (NRCan: East coast Vancouver Island, felt)

Distance to the ocean shore

About 420 m from the lot line (Freshwater Atlas coastline)

Tsunami notification zone

Zone E: the Strait of Georgia, including the Gulf Islands, Greater Vancouver and Johnstone Strait (the Province's zone for alerts on this coast)

Ground at the lot's middle

About 19 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.

On record on the lot or within 100 m

0

On record within 1 km

0

On record within 5 km

1

Nearest

3.5 km from the lot: an earth slide, date not recorded

Kinds within 5 km

earth slide 1

With a date

none of the 1

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.

Health region (regional figure, not this lot)

Central Vancouver Island

Homes tested here

109

At or above 200 Bq/m³ (the guideline)

1 (0.9%)

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.

Federal sites within 2 km

0

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.

Confirm with the local government and a qualified environmental professional.

At-risk species or ecosystems on the parcel

None recorded

Within 500 m

Common Wood-nymph, incana subspecies (Red-listed)

Wide-ranging species mapped over it

Ermine, anguinae subspecies (Blue-listed)

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

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

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.

Cutblocks applied for (1 km)

0

Approved, not yet logged (1 km)

0

Logged in the last 5 years (1 km)

0

Crown land applications (1 km)

telecommunication line, roadway

Quarry, industry, energy or tower tenures (500 m)

None

Along the lot line

Private land along about 90% of the lot line (the north, east and west sides); no parcel mapped along about 10% of the lot line (the south side), most often a road allowance, water or Crown land the parcel map doesn't draw (our reading)

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)

Parksville-Qualicum Beach Wildlife Management Area: 420 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 Town of Qualicum Beach what's in progress on and near the lot

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

Permitted discharges to air, water and land (2 km)

None on the Province's list

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.

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.

Conservation lands are held or reserved by the Province for fish and wildlife habitat, so land beside the lot that is one of them most likely stays undeveloped (our reading). Nobody may use land or resources in a wildlife management area without the regional manager's written permission (Wildlife Act s. 4 (4)), which most likely takes in a path, a water line or a fence across it (our reading), and harming habitat there is an offence (s. 7). The map covers land the Province holds, leases or reserves for fish and wildlife; land trusts' own properties, conservation covenants and regional parks aren't on it unless the Province administers them (our reading). Our summary of the Wildlife Act and the Land Act, read 2026-10-11.

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.

Nearest railway (2 km)

None mapped within 2 km

Nearest highway or major road (2 km)

West Island Highway (Highway 19A), a major road, about 380 m from the lot line

Nearest airport or airstrip (2 km)

None mapped within 2 km

Light at night (within 1 km, 2024)

10 nW/cm²/sr, like a small town, as around Gibsons, Sooke or Valemount (our reading); darker than about 69% of BC's homes.

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.

Community water

No open map of the Town of Qualicum Beach's water service: ask the Town of Qualicum Beach whether the lot is on it

Wells within 2 km

33

Median depth

31 m

Median tested yield

57 L/min (20 wells tested)

Median water level below ground

14 m

Aquifer 212 under the lot

Parksville: fractured sedimentary rock; productivity low, vulnerability low, demand low; 32 wells linked, median depth 61.9 m

Aquifer 217 under the lot

Qualicum: confined sand and gravel (glacial); productivity moderate, vulnerability moderate, demand moderate; 143 wells linked, median depth 30.3 m

Sea water intrusion

Moderately Low (2 on the Province's scale of five, Low to High) for the sand and gravel 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)

Observation well 295

in aquifer 217, 1.9 km from the lot's middle: water level stable or no clear trend over 2014 to 2023; rising about 18 cm a year over 1986 to 2023; water typically 6 m below ground in a well 28 m deep (the Province's trend, records to December 2023)

Observation well 434

in aquifer 217, 2.7 km from the lot's middle: water level rising about 11 cm a year over 2014 to 2023; rising about 11 cm a year over 2013 to 2023; water typically 34 m below ground in a well 54 m deep (the Province's trend, records to December 2023)

Groundwater tested 1.9 km away

At the Province's observation well 295, in aquifer 217, under the lot: within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L (medians): arsenic 0.00047, fluoride 0.05, manganese 0.0016, uranium 0.000043, nitrate (as nitrogen) 0.98, lead under detection; up to 3 samples, 2004 to 2015. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

Groundwater tested 2.7 km away

At the Province's observation well 389, in aquifer 664: manganese median 1.05 mg/L, over the 0.12 mg/L limit (4 of 4 samples over); within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L (medians): arsenic 0.000086, fluoride 0.027, uranium 0.00002, nitrate (as nitrogen) under detection, lead 0.0000075; up to 4 samples, 2011 to 2013. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

Groundwater tested 2.7 km away

At the Province's observation well 433, in aquifer 1250: arsenic 0.0177 mg/L, over the 0.010 mg/L limit; within Health Canada's limits, in mg/L: fluoride under detection, manganese 0.033, uranium under detection, nitrate (as nitrogen) under detection, lead under detection; manganese over the 0.02 mg/L taste and staining level in its one sample; 1 sample, 2016. Not this lot's water: test your own well.

More wells tested

7 more within 10 km in the Province's records, farther away or in another aquifer

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

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.

Observation wells are the Province's monitoring wells, their water level measured for years or decades. The trend is the Province's reading of one well's yearly levels: a decline of 3 to 10 cm a year that the record clearly shows is a moderate rate, 10 cm or more a large one, anything not clear is stable or no clear trend. It shows how the aquifer has behaved there, not what a well on this lot will give; confirm with a qualified hydrogeologist or registered well driller.

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.

Community sewer

No open map of the Town of Qualicum Beach's sewer service: ask the Town of Qualicum Beach whether the lot is on it

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)

800 m² (56%)

Within the setbacks, under 25% slope (mounds, at-grade beds and trenches)

880 m² (62%)

Within the setbacks, under 45% slope (trenches)

930 m² (66%)

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.

Nearest hospital

West Coast General Hospital, Port Alberni: 27 km

Next nearest hospital

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital: 39 km

Nearest emergency department

West Coast General Hospital, Port Alberni: 27 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Nearest walk-in clinic

West Coast Urgent Care Clinic, Port Alberni: 27 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Fri 11:00 to 19:00. Note that hours are subject to physician availability and patient volume. Closed between 13:00 - 17:00, and on statutory holidays

Nearest pharmacy

The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy, Qualicum Beach: 500 m. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Fri 09:00 to 17:00. Closed statutory holidays

Nearest late-night or 24-hour pharmacy

Shoppers Drug Mart, Parksville: 10 km. Hours on HealthLink BC's list: Mon to Sat 08:00 to 22:00, Sun 10:00 to 18:00

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

Qualicum Beach Elementary: 2.2 km

Nearest public secondary school

Kwalikum Secondary, Qualicum Beach: 700 m

Nearest public school with early French immersion

Oceanside Elementary, Parksville: 6.4 km

Nearest francophone school (Conseil scolaire francophone)

des Grands-cedres, Port Alberni: 27 km

Independent schools within 10 km on Vancouver Island

1

Nearest licensed group child care

The Thinking Garden Qualicum: 300 m

Licensed group child care within 1 km

4: by the ages their operators list, 2 under 36 months, 1 for 30 months to 5 years and 1 preschool (2 list none); all take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed group child care within 2 km

5: by the ages their operators list, 2 under 36 months, 2 for 30 months to 5 years and 1 preschool (2 list none); all take part in the fee reduction (CCFRI)

Licensed family child care within about 2 km

2, in the providers' homes

Nearest grocery store

Qualicum Foods: 600 m

Grocery stores within 10 km on Vancouver Island

4

Nearest fire station

Qualicum Beach Fire Department: 1.5 km, on the Province's list

Nearest fire hydrant

Not said: we have no open hydrant map of the Town of Qualicum Beach; ask its fire department where the nearest hydrant is

Nearest ambulance station

Ambulance station 138, Qualicum Beach: 1.1 km

Nearest police detachment or station

Oceanside RCMP, Parksville: 7.9 km

Nearest community policing office

Qualicum Beach Community Policing: 500 m

Nearest transfer station or landfill

A landfill (no name on the map): 30 km

Nearest post office

Qualicum Beach Main: 500 m

Postal area

V9K: an urban postal area: homes mostly get mail at the door or a community mailbox (our reading).

Nearest gas station

Petro-Canada: 400 m

Nearest Service BC office

Service BC - Port Alberni: 28 km

Nearest ferry terminal

French Creek: 6.1 km. Crossings from it on OpenStreetMap: French Creek ↔ Lasqueti (Western Pacific Marine)

Nearest airport with scheduled flights

Qualicum Beach Airport (XQU): 3.8 km

Nearest airport with screened airline flights

Comox airport (YQQ): 51 km

Vancouver International Airport (YVR), BC's main airport for flights abroad

93 km

Nearest transit stop

Crescent Rd W at Memorial Ave: 200 m, route 98; 10 departures on a weekday, 11 on Saturday, none on Sunday (BC Transit's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)

Busiest stop within 500 m

Village Way at Berwick Rd N: 320 m, routes 9 and 97; 35 departures on a weekday, 27 on Saturday, 12 on Sunday (BC Transit's schedule, week of October 19, 2026)

Transit stops within 500 m

5

Nearest park or protected area

Little Qualicum Falls Park, a provincial park: 8.3 km from the lot line

Nearest recreation site or trail

None within 25 km on the Province's list

Distances are straight lines from the middle of the lot, measured by us. The drive is longer, and much longer where the road winds, crosses water or takes a ferry.

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 13, 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.

Insurers ask how far the house is from a hydrant as well as from the fire hall that responds: ask yours what distance it uses and what that does to the premium.

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.

Ferry schedules, fares and reservations aren't shown. Check the operator (BC Ferries, or for an inland crossing the Ministry of Transportation and Transit's inland ferries page) before you count on a sailing: many routes run fewer sailings in winter.

Grocery stores, transfer stations, landfills, recycling depots, post offices, gas stations, ferry terminals, ferry crossings 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.

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

CHPQ-FM, 99.9 MHz FM, 2.1 kW, at Parksville, about 11 km to the south-east; hills about 1 km away rise to 1.7° in its direction, above the line to the antenna: likely blocked by the bare ground (our reading)

Nearest TV transmitter

None in operation within 50 km on ISED's list

Bell satellite TV dish sightline

82° W sits 21° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 19°; 91.1° W sits 25° up to the south-east, clear of the hills by 22° (terrain only; our reading)

Shaw Direct satellite TV dish sightline

107.3° W sits 31° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 27°; 111.1° W sits 32° up to the south-south-east, clear of the hills by 28° (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.

Nearest climate station

Little Qualicum Hatchery, 5.1 km away

Station elevation

30 m

Lot elevation (estimated, middle of the lot)

19 m

January mean temperature (1981-2010)

3.2 °C*

July mean temperature (1981-2010)

16.7 °C*

Yearly precipitation, rain and snow as water (1981-2010)

1,083 mm*

Yearly snowfall (1981-2010)

35 cm*

Days with snow on the ground, 1 cm or more (1981-2010)

7 days a year, 3 days of them in January*

Wettest day in the station's record to 2010

100.6 mm of rain and melted snow, March 17, 1997

Most snow in a day in the station's record to 2010

32 cm, January 7, 2005

Deepest snow on the ground in the station's record to 2010

76 cm, December 29, 1996

Period

1981-2010

By the 2050s, days a year over 30 °C (model projection, SSP2-4.5)

About 6 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 70 days longer than in the same models' 1971-2000

By the 2050s, winter precipitation falling as snow (model projection, SSP2-4.5)

About 8 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 4 days a year at the Port Alberni Elementary station, 28 km away (2015 to 2025); the most was 18 days in 2018

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.

* 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, the lowest temperature recorded, days over 30 °C or degree days, so those are left out rather than guessed.

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 8 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 5 to 17 across the models), against about 2 in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 275 days (range 240 to 315), against about 205; and about 6% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 2% to 8%), against about 14%. 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 Port Alberni Elementary station, 28 km away, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 4 days a year over the 9 years with a full record, 2015 to 2025; the most was 18 days in 2018. These days fell both in the wildfire season and in winter (our reading: wildfire smoke in summer, wood smoke held in by still air in winter).

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.

Place

Qualicum Beach

In the taxable area

Yes

Rate, 2026

1% of the assessed value for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, 3% for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners (4% from 2027)

Declare by

March 31 each year, for the year before

The tax applies to property BC Assessment classes as residential; exemptions also cover a newly bought home in its first year, a home being built or rebuilt, a home reached only by water and over 100 m from a road, and a property assessed at $150,000 or less, among others. Every owner on title declares separately, each year, even when exempt. Confirm a given property with the Province's speculation and vacancy tax office.

Reserve and treaty lands, and islands reached only by air or water (Vancouver Island aside), are outside the taxable areas.

Local government

Qualicum Beach

Residential rate, 2026

6.1908 per $1,000

Municipal

2.891 per $1,000

Regional district

1.3266 per $1,000

Regional hospital district

0.6422 per $1,000

School (set by the Province)

1.2927 per $1,000

Other

0.0383 per $1,000

BC municipalities' middle rate

6.24337 per $1,000

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.

Rates are set each May for the year; the next year's will differ.

Police service

The Qualicum Beach RCMP (municipal)

Crime severity index, 2025

49 (BC 92)

Violent / non-violent index

41 / 53 (BC 98 / 91)

Crime severity index, 2015

40 (BC 93)

Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025

125 (BC 281)

Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025

62 (BC 138)

Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025

135 (BC 441)

Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025

705 (BC 1,531)

All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 2025

3,351 (BC 6,943)

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: that shows up as a notice on the title. Ask the seller for the Property Disclosure Statement, and your lawyer for the title search.