Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Hillsborough, 20% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Hillsborough, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Hillsborough as in most places, at $0.022 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hillsborough grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Hillsborough’s hazards
For Hillsborough, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Hillsborough faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hillsborough grades C for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Hillsborough with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Hillsborough has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Hillsborough’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Hillsborough burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Hillsborough’s homes came within 11 km, never inside 5 km.
61% of the land within 5 km of Hillsborough is forest fuel, close to the 66% 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 61
In the lower half in New Brunswick: Hillsborough at 0.001% a year, 42nd of 61, far from Tracadie’s 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.
Hillsborough 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.
Service New Brunswick - GeoNB has mapped flooding for Hillsborough (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Hillsborough: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Hillsborough the inventory points to Service New Brunswick - GeoNB’s 2020 study, whose map is the one to check.
| 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
Its flood study puts Hillsborough with 93% of towns in New Brunswick; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Hillsborough to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Hillsborough $0.022 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.022 per $1,000, Hillsborough’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.022, Hillsborough is below the typical town 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.
Hillsborough sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 61% expect more shaking damage.
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).
For Hillsborough the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Hillsborough: 20% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Radon runs above the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Hillsborough’s area, at 20%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Hillsborough’s area, at 20%, is close to the median in New Brunswick (20%); 3.7% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Hillsborough is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are higher.
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.
Whatever Hillsborough’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Region 1 health region
Where to get warnings in Hillsborough
Alerts for Hillsborough come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Hillsborough are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Hillsborough
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | Low | $0.022 | 20% | Yes |
| Hillsborough 1,569 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.022 | 20% | Yes |
| Memramcook 5,616 · 11 km | Low | $0.021 | 20% | Yes |
| Dorchester 1,130 · 12 km | Low | $0.020 | 20% | Yes |
| Coverdale 5,167 · 13 km | Low | $0.031 | 20% | Yes |
| Riverview 22,614 · 18 km | Low | $0.031 | 20% | Yes |
| Dieppe 35,986 · 18 km | Low | $0.033 | 20% | Yes |
The fire record around Dorchester is a touch heavier than Hillsborough’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 Hillsborough faces
What to do about the hazards Hillsborough 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Hillsborough without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Hillsborough’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Hillsborough, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Hillsborough until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Hillsborough
Is radon a problem in Hillsborough?
Around Hillsborough, 107 survey homes were tested and 20% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Hillsborough’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hillsborough grades C for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Hillsborough at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Hillsborough since 1986 (last in 2004); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Hillsborough?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Hillsborough $0.022 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Hillsborough flood?
A flood study covers Hillsborough on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).