Study: Residential properties and homeowners in high flood hazard areas, 2022
Released: 2026-09-03
The study "Analysis of residential properties and homeowners in high flood hazard areas," released today, uses housing data from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program and flood hazard data from Public Safety Canada to provide insight on the flood exposure of residential properties in Canadian communities.
This study examines the characteristics of residential properties located in high flood hazard (HFH) areas, as well as information on the profile of the owners of those properties.
The results show that, in 2022, higher proportions of residential properties were in HFH areas in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) in Manitoba (39.5%), British Columbia (7.1%) and Yukon (5.1%) than in other analyzed jurisdictions.
Additionally, the study shows that properties built from 2016 to 2022 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia were more likely to be in HFH areas than those built in prior years. The study also presents more detailed information for certain CMAs and CAs, with a particular emphasis on Winnipeg, Chatham-Kent, Chilliwack and Vancouver, all of which had significant residential flood hazard exposure and more residential properties in HFH areas.
This analysis offers insights into the types of homes and homeowners that would be vulnerable to flooding if existing flood defences, such as dikes, were absent.
Note to readers
The data in this release are compiled from Statistics Canada's Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) for the 2022 reference year and flood hazard estimates from Public Safety Canada. Complete information about the reference years of the property stock, by province and territory, is available. The flood hazard estimates do not account for existing flood defences aimed at mitigating, or eliminating altogether, the effects of a potential flood.
This release reports on census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan (the Regina CMA, the Saskatoon CMA and the Swift Current CA only), Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon. It excludes reserves, non-residential properties and vacant land.
Geographical boundaries
In CHSP releases, data are based on the geographical boundaries from the Standard Geographical Classification 2021.
The CHSP database does not contain information about residential properties in Quebec or on reserves.
Definitions
A high flood hazard area refers to a dissemination block where 80% or more of the land area overlaps with the 100-year return period floodplains, based on the JBA Risk Management Limited Flood Hazard Model (2024). The selected model accounts for fluvial, pluvial and coastal flood hazards, but it does not include flood defences.
In this release, residential properties refer to properties containing at least one dwelling and exclude properties that are exclusively vacant land.
Products
The study "Analysis of residential properties and homeowners in high flood hazard areas," part of Housing Statistics in Canada (46280001), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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