Photo: Brendanriley · CC BY-SA 3.0Antigonish faces fewer hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Antigonish: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. For earthquakes Antigonish is middling, $0.022 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Antigonish grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Antigonish’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Antigonish: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Antigonish faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Antigonish grades A for hazard risk
For Antigonish, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #14 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #508 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Few fires near Antigonish: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Antigonish’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.001% of the land a year, Antigonish’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Antigonish’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 8.1 km out.
There is forest near Antigonish’s homes (50% within 5 km) and more of it further out (69% 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 at 0.001% a year, 69th 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.
Some fire is mapped around Antigonish, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
A flood study covers Antigonish, from Province of Nova Scotia: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Antigonish: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Antigonish, Province of Nova Scotia’s from 2023, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| South/West Primary Watershed | Province of Nova Scotia | 2023 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Nova Scotia reaches 88% of towns, Antigonish included, beside 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Antigonish’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Antigonish $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, Antigonish’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
Antigonish’s $0.022 is close to the median in Nova Scotia, $0.018; Clare is highest at $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.
Middle of the pack: 61% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Antigonish.
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’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 Antigonish: 2% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Zone 4 health region: radon tests
At 2% over the guideline, the area around Antigonish is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Antigonish 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.
Under 5% puts Antigonish with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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 Antigonish only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Antigonish
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Antigonish; 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 Antigonish, 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 Antigonish
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antigonish | Low | $0.022 | 2% | Yes |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision A 9,682 · 3.7 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| Antigonish County, Subdivision B 6,486 · 18 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
The fire record around Antigonish County, Subdivision B is a touch heavier than Antigonish’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 Antigonish faces
Practical steps for Antigonish’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Antigonish’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Antigonish.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Antigonish’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Antigonish takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Antigonish
How big is the earthquake risk in Antigonish?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Antigonish’s buildings lose $0.022 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Antigonish?
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.
How is Antigonish’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Antigonish A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Antigonish at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Antigonish’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2024) is short of the level that counts.
Does Antigonish flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Antigonish; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
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).