Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainHazard risk in Antigonish County, Subdivision A is lower than in 95% of Canadian towns
Little of the land around Antigonish County, Subdivision A has burned: 0% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.001% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Antigonish County, Subdivision A a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Antigonish County, Subdivision A: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Antigonish County, Subdivision A faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Antigonish County, Subdivision A grades A+ for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #3 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #247 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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Antigonish County, Subdivision A at 0.001% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
There is forest near Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s homes (67% within 5 km) and more of it further out (74% 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 Nova Scotia · highest of 90
Some fire is mapped around Antigonish County, Subdivision A (0.001% a year), but it ranks only 69th of 90 towns in Nova Scotia; Barrington has 0.46%.
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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Antigonish County, Subdivision A burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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.
4 flood studies cover Antigonish County, Subdivision A, the newest from Province of Nova Scotia
Flood studies whose area touches Antigonish County, Subdivision A, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
4 studies on the inventory touch Antigonish County, Subdivision A, the newest Province of Nova Scotia’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northumberland Shore Region | Province of Nova Scotia | 2025 | final · not public |
| Northumberland Region | Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs | 2025 | under review · not public |
| Eastern Shore Flood Mapping Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
| South/West Primary Watershed | Province of Nova Scotia | 2023 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Antigonish County, Subdivision A is one of the 88% of towns in Nova Scotia with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Antigonish County, Subdivision A: $0.014 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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Antigonish County, Subdivision A it is only $0.014, 0.5 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s $0.014 sits under the median in Nova Scotia, $0.018, and well under Clare’s $0.034.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Earthquakes cost less around Antigonish County, Subdivision A than in 73% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A’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).
Little radon around Antigonish County, Subdivision A: 2% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Zone 4 health region: radon tests
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s area, at 2%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Antigonish County, Subdivision A than in most towns in Nova Scotia: 2% against 13%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s band, which holds 37%.
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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Antigonish County, Subdivision A
Alerts for Antigonish County, Subdivision A 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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Antigonish County, Subdivision A
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigonish County, Subdivision A | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| Antigonish 5,175 · 3.7 km | Low | $0.022 | 2% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Antigonish County, Subdivision A (low); Antigonish comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Antigonish County, Subdivision A faces
Practical steps for Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Antigonish County, Subdivision A’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; Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Antigonish County, Subdivision A until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Antigonish County, Subdivision A
How big is the earthquake risk in Antigonish County, Subdivision A?
Expected earthquake damage in Antigonish County, Subdivision A comes to $0.014 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Antigonish County, Subdivision A?
The area’s survey found 2% of 99 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Antigonish County, Subdivision A.
Is Antigonish County, Subdivision A at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2024) is short of the level that counts.
How is Antigonish County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Antigonish County, Subdivision A A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Antigonish County, Subdivision A flood?
A flood study covers Antigonish County, Subdivision A 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).