Canada · British Columbia · 13 cities
Air quality in British Columbia today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Chilliwack has the cleanest air of the 13 cities we track in British Columbia (AQI 16, Good), and Saanich the worst (AQI 43, Good). Abbotsford has the most tree cover, at 54.8% — #2 of 59 cities measured in Canada.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
AQI 27
Average right now
Good
- cities tracked
- 13
- average tree cover
- 31.0%
- Canada: 33.1%
- worst air now: Saanich
- 43
- cleanest air now: Chilliwack
- 16
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from Canada's AQHI. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
British Columbia · average AQI 27
Air quality today across British Columbia, city by city
| Vancouver | 24Good | 23.8% | 12.8K | #47 of 59 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey | 25Good | 36.0% | — | #26 of 59 |
| Victoria | 43Good | 36.3% | — | #24 of 59 |
| Burnaby | 19Good | 38.6% | — | #17 of 59 |
| Richmond | 27Good | 22.9% | 21.0K | #50 of 59 |
| Coquitlam | 19Good | 42.1% | — | #10 of 59 |
| Kelowna | 21Good | 22.4% | 19.5K | #52 of 59 |
| Abbotsford | 36Good | 54.8% | — | #2 of 59 |
| Langley | 25Good | 28.1% | 6.0K | #38 of 59 |
| Saanich | 43Good | 46.7% | — | #5 of 59 |
| Kamloops | 21Good | 18.0% | 36.2K | #57 of 59 |
| Delta | 29Good | 10.3% | 61.9K | #59 of 59 |
| Chilliwack | 16Good | 23.3% | 21.0K | #49 of 59 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in Canada.
Is this the same as Canada's AQHI?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Canada's Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), from Environment and Climate Change Canada, runs from 1 to 10 and above: 1–3 low risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high and over 10 very high. It combines ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into one health-risk number, so it isn't a converted AQI, and the two can move differently, especially in wildfire smoke.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has British Columbia lost?
Since 2001, British Columbia has lost about 12.3 million hectares of forest (about 120,000 km²): 18% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was wildfires (47%), after which forest can grow back. About 139,000 hectares (1.1%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 12.3 million haabout 120,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 18%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 139,000 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3,040 ha | 204,000 ha | 207,000 ha |
| 2002 | 2,860 ha | 258,000 ha | 261,000 ha |
| 2003 | 3,630 ha | 297,000 ha | 301,000 ha |
| 2004 | 4,840 ha | 521,000 ha | 526,000 ha |
| 2005 | 4,800 ha | 366,000 ha | 371,000 ha |
| 2006 | 7,540 ha | 490,000 ha | 498,000 ha |
| 2007 | 4,350 ha | 437,000 ha | 442,000 ha |
| 2008 | 6,420 ha | 334,000 ha | 341,000 ha |
| 2009 | 4,560 ha | 352,000 ha | 356,000 ha |
| 2010 | 3,970 ha | 429,000 ha | 433,000 ha |
| 2011 | 3,150 ha | 302,000 ha | 305,000 ha |
| 2012 | 7,790 ha | 444,000 ha | 452,000 ha |
| 2013 | 4,480 ha | 256,000 ha | 260,000 ha |
| 2014 | 5,850 ha | 388,000 ha | 394,000 ha |
| 2015 | 4,820 ha | 380,000 ha | 385,000 ha |
| 2016 | 6,660 ha | 358,000 ha | 365,000 ha |
| 2017 | 7,030 ha | 700,000 ha | 707,000 ha |
| 2018 | 5,750 ha | 666,000 ha | 671,000 ha |
| 2019 | 4,810 ha | 558,000 ha | 562,000 ha |
| 2020 | 3,870 ha | 188,000 ha | 192,000 ha |
| 2021 | 5,420 ha | 508,000 ha | 514,000 ha |
| 2022 | 3,970 ha | 350,000 ha | 354,000 ha |
| 2023 | 3,140 ha | 1.35 million ha | 1.35 million ha |
| 2024 | 2,780 ha | 1.26 million ha | 1.26 million ha |
| 2025 | 23,700 ha | 746,000 ha | 770,000 ha |
Forest loss is speeding up: about 850,000 hectares a year in 2021–2025, up from 500,000 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2023, when about 1.35 million hectares of forest were lost, mostly to wildfires.
What is causing deforestation in British Columbia?
- Wildfirescan grow back47% · 5.78 million ha
- Loggingcan grow back44% · 5.46 million ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back3.7% · 457,000 ha
Also: mining and energy, farms, pasture and plantations, towns and roads, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. How it's measured
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