Neighbourhood profiles

Poly B, neighbourhood by neighbourhood

Poly B risk is mostly a question of when your street was built. We mapped 2,099 neighbourhoods across 31 Canadian cities against the 1978 to 1998 installation window, using municipal boundary and build-era data and Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census.

How to read these profiles

Each profile is a likelihood, not a diagnosis. Neighbourhoods build out over years and individual homes get renovated, so the only way to know for sure is to look at the pipe. For a street-level answer, the address checker works for any address in Canada.

Choose a city

Calgary

261

neighbourhoods profiled: 76 high, 50 moderate, 135 lower likelihood. Browse Calgary

Edmonton

206

neighbourhoods profiled: 74 high, 19 moderate, 113 lower likelihood. Browse Edmonton

Kelowna

16

neighbourhoods profiled: 11 high, 2 moderate, 3 lower likelihood. Browse Kelowna

Abbotsford

21

neighbourhoods profiled: 4 high, 12 moderate, 5 lower likelihood. Browse Abbotsford

Brampton

53

neighbourhoods profiled: 13 high, 14 moderate, 26 lower likelihood. Browse Brampton

Burnaby

20

neighbourhoods profiled: 2 high, 15 moderate, 3 lower likelihood. Browse Burnaby

Coquitlam

12

neighbourhoods profiled: 3 high, 7 moderate, 2 lower likelihood. Browse Coquitlam

Grande Prairie

56

neighbourhoods profiled: 4 high, 26 moderate, 26 lower likelihood. Browse Grande Prairie

Halifax

200

neighbourhoods profiled: 10 high, 188 moderate, 2 lower likelihood. Browse Halifax

Hamilton

205

neighbourhoods profiled: 27 high, 91 moderate, 87 lower likelihood. Browse Hamilton

Kamloops

26

neighbourhoods profiled: 2 high, 16 moderate, 8 lower likelihood. Browse Kamloops

Kingston

41

neighbourhoods profiled: 6 high, 23 moderate, 12 lower likelihood. Browse Kingston

Kitchener

53

neighbourhoods profiled: 3 high, 21 moderate, 29 lower likelihood. Browse Kitchener

Lethbridge

55

neighbourhoods profiled: 8 high, 18 moderate, 29 lower likelihood. Browse Lethbridge

London

41

neighbourhoods profiled: 3 high, 17 moderate, 21 lower likelihood. Browse London

Maple Ridge

23

neighbourhoods profiled: 4 high, 12 moderate, 7 lower likelihood. Browse Maple Ridge

Mississauga

50

neighbourhoods profiled: 14 high, 23 moderate, 13 lower likelihood. Browse Mississauga

Nanaimo

21

neighbourhoods profiled: 4 high, 15 moderate, 2 lower likelihood. Browse Nanaimo

Oshawa

20

neighbourhoods profiled: 2 high, 10 moderate, 8 lower likelihood. Browse Oshawa

Ottawa

112

neighbourhoods profiled: 18 high, 50 moderate, 44 lower likelihood. Browse Ottawa

Prince George

26

neighbourhoods profiled: 1 high, 21 moderate, 4 lower likelihood. Browse Prince George

Red Deer

78

neighbourhoods profiled: 11 high, 29 moderate, 38 lower likelihood. Browse Red Deer

Saanich

12

neighbourhoods profiled: 2 high, 8 moderate, 2 lower likelihood. Browse Saanich

St. Albert

28

neighbourhoods profiled: 4 high, 14 moderate, 10 lower likelihood. Browse St. Albert

Surrey

7

neighbourhoods profiled: 1 high, 6 moderate, 0 lower likelihood. Browse Surrey

Toronto

157

neighbourhoods profiled: 7 high, 61 moderate, 89 lower likelihood. Browse Toronto

Vancouver

22

neighbourhoods profiled: 1 high, 13 moderate, 8 lower likelihood. Browse Vancouver

Victoria

12

neighbourhoods profiled: 0 high, 6 moderate, 6 lower likelihood. Browse Victoria

Waterloo

25

neighbourhoods profiled: 7 high, 10 moderate, 8 lower likelihood. Browse Waterloo

Windsor

20

neighbourhoods profiled: 2 high, 6 moderate, 12 lower likelihood. Browse Windsor

Winnipeg

220

neighbourhoods profiled: 14 high, 83 moderate, 123 lower likelihood. Browse Winnipeg

Why neighbourhood matters

Polybutylene plumbing was installed in Canadian homes roughly from 1978 until resin production ended in 1998, which means entire subdivisions built in that window carry it street after street, while older and newer areas mostly don’t. The basics chapter covers the history, and the identification guide shows how to confirm what your own home has. For cities not yet mapped at neighbourhood level, the city profiles cover Canada’s 119 largest municipalities with the same census build-era data.

Sources for these profiles

  1. Municipal open data: neighbourhood boundaries and predominant construction eras
  2. Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, period of construction of occupied private dwellings by dissemination area

Profiles describe areas, never individual homes. A high likelihood area contains homes without Poly B, and a low likelihood area contains renovated homes that have it.

Poly B Canada seal, published by Poly B Plumbing Guys

Published by Poly B Plumbing Guys

This library is maintained by the team that replaces Poly B every day across Alberta and BC. Red Seal certified plumbers, full remove-replace-restore service including drywall and paint, a 25-year warranty, and the completion certificate insurers ask for.

Get your pipes checked →