Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Radon is Dalhousie’s main hazard: 24% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Burn scars are few around Dalhousie, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.004% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Dalhousie as in most places, at $0.031 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Dalhousie grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Dalhousie’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Dalhousie: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Dalhousie faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Dalhousie: C−
The grade weighs Dalhousie’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #29 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,337 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Dalhousie: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Dalhousie’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around Dalhousie fire takes 0.004% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Dalhousie’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 8.2 km away.
There is forest near Dalhousie’s homes (49% within 5 km) and more of it further out (65% within 25 km).
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in New Brunswick · highest of 60
Dalhousie sits mid-table in New Brunswick: 25th of 60 towns, at 0.004% a year, well behind Tracadie (0.28%).
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Dalhousie is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or higher.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
Dalhousie is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Service New Brunswick - GeoNB
Flood studies whose area touches Dalhousie, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Dalhousie is Service New Brunswick - GeoNB’s, dated 2020; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inland Flood Mapping in New Brunswick and Updated Sea-Level Rise and Flooding Estimates for New Brunswick Coastal Sections 2020 | Service New Brunswick - GeoNB | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
93% of towns in New Brunswick have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Dalhousie has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Dalhousie’s homes are at risk.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Dalhousie: $0.031 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Dalhousie’s $0.031 matches the typical town’s $0.030.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Dalhousie’s $0.031 is close to the median in New Brunswick, $0.036; St. Stephen is highest at $0.16.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Dalhousie (48%).
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
The loss is to Dalhousie’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Dalhousie: 24% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Region 5 health region: radon tests
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Dalhousie’s area, at 24%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Dalhousie, 24% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in New Brunswick (20%); 4.5% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns (3.1%) share the 20–30% band with Dalhousie, and 1.5% sit above it.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Dalhousie only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Dalhousie
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Dalhousie; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Dalhousie, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Dalhousie’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalhousie | Low | $0.031 | 24% | Yes |
| Eel River Crossing 1,918 · 7.7 km | Low | $0.048 | 24% | Yes |
| Charlo 1,386 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.048 | 24% | Yes |
| Nouvelle 1,819 · 9.7 km | Low | $0.030 | 25% | Yes |
| Dalhousie 1,132 · 10 km | Low | $0.033 | 24% | Yes |
| Balmoral 1,628 · 11 km | Low | $0.035 | 24% | Yes |
The fire record around Charlo is a touch heavier than Dalhousie’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Dalhousie faces
What to do about the hazards Dalhousie faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Dalhousie until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Dalhousie without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Dalhousie’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Dalhousie’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Dalhousie
Is Dalhousie at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Dalhousie since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Dalhousie?
Expected earthquake damage in Dalhousie comes to $0.031 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Dalhousie flood?
A flood study covers Dalhousie on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How is Dalhousie’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Dalhousie grades C− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Dalhousie?
Around Dalhousie, 110 survey homes were tested and 24% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).