Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHigh radon around Prince William: 17% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Little of the land around Prince William has burned: 0% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Prince William as in most places, at $0.042 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Prince William grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Prince William’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Prince William: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Prince William faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Prince William grades C− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Prince William’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Prince William has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Prince William’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
With 0.000% burned a year, Prince William is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
82% of the land within 5 km of Prince William is forest fuel, close to the 81% 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
Little or nothing burns around Prince William in a typical year; 16 of the 61 towns in New Brunswick share that, and Tracadie leads at 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Prince William, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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.
No flood study is listed for Prince William
Flood studies whose area touches Prince William, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Prince William; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
93% of towns in New Brunswick have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Prince William is not yet one of them.
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 Prince William’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.”
Expected shaking damage in Prince William: $0.042 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.
1.4 times the typical $0.030: Prince William’s $0.042 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in New Brunswick: Prince William’s $0.042 sits by the median of $0.036, while St. Stephen reaches $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.
Prince William’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 43% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Prince William’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).
17% of homes tested around Prince William are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; Prince William’s area has 17%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Prince William’s area, at 17%, is close to the median in New Brunswick (20%); 7.1% 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.
Prince William 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Prince William as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Region 3 health region
Weather and fire alerts for Prince William
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Prince William; 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. |
For fires near Prince William, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Prince William
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince William | Low | $0.042 | 17% | None listed |
| Queensbury 1,421 · 9.8 km | Low | $0.041 | 17% | None listed |
| Kingsclear 3,158 · 11 km | Low | $0.034 | 17% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Prince William (low); Queensbury comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Prince William faces
What to do about the hazards Prince William 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Prince William is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Prince William’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Prince William’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Prince William.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Prince William
Is radon a problem in Prince William?
In Health Canada’s survey, 17% of 112 homes tested in Prince William’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Prince William at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Prince William has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Prince William?
About $0.042 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Prince William.
How is Prince William’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Prince William C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Prince William flood?
Nothing is listed for Prince William on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).