Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainFew places are as safe from hazards as Division No. 9, Subdivision C: it beats 96% of Canadian towns
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.012 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 3% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Division No. 9, Subdivision C grades A+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Division No. 9, Subdivision C: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Division No. 9, Subdivision C faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Division No. 9, Subdivision C grades A+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Division No. 9, Subdivision C’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.
Wildfire is rare near Division No. 9, Subdivision C: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s 0.000% is in the low band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Division No. 9, Subdivision C: 56% within 5 km, 54% 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 Newfoundland and Labrador · highest of 33
To three decimals the burn rate around Division No. 9, Subdivision C is zero, as for 8 of the 33 towns in Newfoundland and Labrador, while Labrador City reaches 0.43%.
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.
Division No. 9, Subdivision C shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Division No. 9, Subdivision C
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Division No. 9, Subdivision C: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Division No. 9, Subdivision C; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Division No. 9, Subdivision C has no flood study on file, though 59% of towns in Newfoundland and Labrador do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Division No. 9, Subdivision C floods.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Division No. 9, Subdivision C: $0.012 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s $0.012 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Newfoundland and Labrador is $0.011; Division No. 9, Subdivision C, at $0.012, is right beside it, and Holyrood tops the list at $0.015.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Division No. 9, Subdivision C is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 84% 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 Division No. 9, Subdivision C’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).
Radon runs low around Division No. 9, Subdivision C: 3% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 3% of tested homes around Division No. 9, Subdivision C, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Labrador-Grenfell Regional Integrated Health Auth health region, Division No. 9, Subdivision C included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Below the typical town in Newfoundland and Labrador (4%) at 3%, the area around Division No. 9, Subdivision C still had 0.5% of tests over 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Division No. 9, Subdivision C, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see more.
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 Division No. 9, Subdivision C only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Division No. 9, Subdivision C
Alerts for Division No. 9, Subdivision C 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Division No. 9, Subdivision C to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Division No. 9, Subdivision C faces
What to do about the hazards Division No. 9, Subdivision C 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
- 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 Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Division No. 9, Subdivision C takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Division No. 9, Subdivision C.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Division No. 9, Subdivision C’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 Division No. 9, Subdivision C
Does Division No. 9, Subdivision C flood?
Nothing is listed for Division No. 9, Subdivision C on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Division No. 9, Subdivision C?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3% of 201 homes tested in Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Division No. 9, Subdivision C?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s buildings lose $0.012 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Division No. 9, Subdivision C at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Division No. 9, Subdivision C’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Division No. 9, Subdivision C A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).