Photo: David Dermott · CC BY-SA 4.0Hubley is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Halifax Regional Municipality
Fire seldom reaches Hubley: since 1986, 1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.02% a year). Seismic risk in Hubley sits near the middle: $0.018 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 13% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Hubley a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Hubley’s hazards
For Hubley, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Hubley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hubley grades B− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Hubley, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #47 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,724 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Hubley has burned: 3.6% within 5 km, 1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Hubley’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Hubley fire takes 0.02% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
There is forest near Hubley’s homes (66% within 5 km) and more of it further out (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
Hubley burns at 0.02% a year, 39th of 90 towns in Nova Scotia; the leader, Barrington, reaches 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, Hubley 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.
A flood study covers Hubley, from Halifax Regional Municipality: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Hubley: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Hubley is Halifax Regional Municipality’s, dated 2024; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation of Coastal, Pluvial, Fluvial Flood Hazard Maps for Halifax Regional Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
88% of towns in Nova Scotia have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Hubley has one too.
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 Hubley’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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Hubley: $0.018 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Hubley’s $0.018 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.6 times as much).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Halifax, Hubley included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Hubley at $0.018 beside a median in Nova Scotia of $0.018, with Clare on top 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.
Hubley is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 68% 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Hubley is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Hubley: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Hubley: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Hubley doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Zone 6 health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Hubley’s area, at 13%, is close to the median in Nova Scotia (13%); 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Hubley among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
A low area share in Hubley doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Hubley
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Hubley; 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 Hubley, 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)
How Hubley’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubley | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Head of St Margarets Bay 2,885 · 4.5 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Upper Tantallon 5,248 · 4.8 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Hammonds Plains 13,844 · 9.2 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Timberlea 11,014 · 10 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Bedford 28,848 · 15 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Clayton Park West 34,404 · 15 km | Low | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
Bedford burns a little more than Hubley, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Hubley faces
What to do about the hazards Hubley 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Hubley, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Hubley’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Hubley 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 Hubley.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Hubley
Is Hubley at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 1% of the land within 25 km of Hubley has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Hubley?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Hubley’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Hubley?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 101 homes tested in Hubley’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Hubley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hubley’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Hubley flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Hubley; 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).