1 in 3 homes in Interior BC has high radon. Find out if yours does — for free.

It is a radioactive gas that forms when uranium in soil and rock breaks down. You cannot see it, smell it or taste it, and it is in every building to some degree. Outdoors it disperses harmlessly. Indoors it can build up, and long-term exposure to a high level raises the risk of lung cancer — Health Canada identifies radon as the number one cause of lung cancer in people who have never smoked.

Yes. We place a professional continuous radon monitor in your home for two to seven days, collect it, and give you the result — at no cost and with no obligation. If your number comes back low, that is the end of it. We would rather you know your number than not.

The free short-term test uses a continuous monitor that sits on the lowest lived-in level of the house for two to seven days. It gives a first reading in about ten minutes and a result within about 24 hours of pickup. A long-term test runs 91 days between September and April, and Health Canada is clear that a long-term result is what a mitigation decision should be based on.

Health Canada's action level is 200 becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m³), and the World Health Organization's reference level is 100. There is no threshold below which radon is known to be harmless — the risk falls as the level falls — so the guideline is a point for action, not a line between safe and unsafe.

Fall and winter. A closed-up, heated house has the strongest pressure difference pulling soil gas in and the least fresh air diluting it, so that is when levels peak and when a reading is most representative. November is Radon Action Month in Canada for exactly this reason.

Most residential installations are done in a single day. Health Canada notes that a properly installed system reduces radon by more than 80% in most homes. Older foundations, stone basements and houses without usable sub-slab drainage take longer, because the diagnostic and sealing work comes first.

More than most people expect. The 2024 Cross-Canada Radon Report found about one in three homes in Interior British Columbia at or above the 200 Bq/m³ action level — on par with the highest regions in the country. Valley geology, the type of foundation and how tightly the home is sealed through the heating season all change the result, and none of it can be predicted from a map. Two homes on the same street can test years apart in risk.

Because the ground is different. The same report found roughly one in 75 homes on the Pacific coast above the guideline, against one in three in the Interior. Coastal soils and the mild, breezy climate keep indoor levels low; the Interior’s geology produces more radon and its colder winters keep houses closed up longer. A coastal rule of thumb simply does not transfer to Kelowna, Vernon or Penticton.