Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainAntigonish County, Subdivision B faces fewer hazards than 94% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is rare near Antigonish County, Subdivision B: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.002% a year. Seismic risk runs low: $0.015 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 2% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Antigonish County, Subdivision B grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s hazards
For Antigonish County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Antigonish County, Subdivision B faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Antigonish County, Subdivision B: A
Seismic risk and radon set Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #7 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #261 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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 Antigonish County, Subdivision B has burned: 0.3% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s 0.002% is in the low band.
74% of the land within 5 km of Antigonish County, Subdivision B is forest fuel, close to the 77% 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
In the lower half in Nova Scotia: Antigonish County, Subdivision B at 0.002% a year, 60th of 90, far from Barrington’s 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Antigonish County, Subdivision B among them, though its rate is above zero; 7.5% rank 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.
2 flood studies cover Antigonish County, Subdivision B, the newest from Province of Nova Scotia
Flood studies whose area touches Antigonish County, Subdivision B, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
2 studies on the inventory touch Antigonish County, Subdivision B, the newest Province of Nova Scotia’s from 2024, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
88% of towns in Nova Scotia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Antigonish County, Subdivision B has one too.
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 B 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 B: $0.015 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.
At $0.015 per $1,000, Antigonish County, Subdivision B carries 0.5 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Nova Scotia: Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s $0.015 against $0.018; Clare reaches $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.
72% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Antigonish County, Subdivision B.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Antigonish County, Subdivision B.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
2% of homes tested around Antigonish County, Subdivision B are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s area has fewer, 2%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Antigonish County, Subdivision B 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 B’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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Zone 4 health region
Where to get warnings in Antigonish County, Subdivision B
Alerts for Antigonish County, Subdivision B 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. |
Evacuation orders for Antigonish County, Subdivision B come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Antigonish County, Subdivision B
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigonish County, Subdivision B | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Antigonish 5,175 · 18 km | Low | $0.022 | 2% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Antigonish County, Subdivision B has the most fire on record (low); Antigonish follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Antigonish County, Subdivision B faces
Practical steps for Antigonish County, Subdivision B’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
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Antigonish County, Subdivision B sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Antigonish County, Subdivision B floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s included.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Antigonish County, Subdivision B.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Antigonish County, Subdivision B
Is radon a problem in Antigonish County, Subdivision B?
2% of the 99 homes Health Canada tested around Antigonish County, Subdivision B topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Antigonish County, Subdivision B?
About $0.015 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Antigonish County, Subdivision B.
Is Antigonish County, Subdivision B at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2024), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Antigonish County, Subdivision B flood?
Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How is Antigonish County, Subdivision B’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Antigonish County, Subdivision B 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).