Photo: Citobun · CC BY-SA 4.0North End is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Halifax Regional Municipality
Fire reaches the land around North End now and then: 2.5% within 25 km since 1986 (0.06% a year), below the high band. Earthquake risk in North End is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.018 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 13% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives North End a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about North End’s hazards
For North End, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What North End faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North End grades B− for hazard risk
For North End, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #47 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,724 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.
A moderate wildfire record for North End: 2.5% within 25 km burned, 1.7% within 5 km
Past fire around North End’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.06% of the land a year, North End’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest thickens with distance from North End: 13% of the land within 5 km, 71% 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
The land around North End burns at 0.06% a year, the 10th highest rate of 90 towns in Nova Scotia; Barrington tops it at 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.
Moderate puts North End above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
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 North End, from Halifax Regional Municipality: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for North End: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Halifax Regional Municipality holds the flood mapping that covers North End (2024), linked below.
| 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
Its flood study puts North End with 88% of towns in Nova Scotia; Canada’s share 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 North End 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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in North End $0.018 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.018 per $1,000, North End’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.6 times).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Halifax, North End included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around North End runs at $0.018 a year, near the $0.018 of the typical town in Nova Scotia; Clare has $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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 68% of its 2,611 towns sit above North End.
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).
For North End the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
13% of homes tested around North End are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Zone 6 health region
More homes than usual test high around North End: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
North End’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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than North End, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 North End 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 North End
Alerts for North End 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 North End 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 North End
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North End | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Windsor Park 13,044 · 1.7 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Schmidtville 18,105 · 1.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Austinville 28,021 · 2.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Westmount 23,207 · 2.8 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Fairview 16,296 · 3.4 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
| Manor Park 14,148 · 3.7 km | Moderate | $0.018 | 13% | Yes |
The fire record around Schmidtville is a touch heavier than North End’s, but the band is the same: moderate (here moderate).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North End faces
Practical steps for North End’s hazards, most pressing first.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- 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 North End without grading them.
- 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 North End.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, North End’s included.
- 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 North End until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North End
How big is the earthquake risk in North End?
In NRCan’s seismic model, North End’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is North End at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: North End’s band is moderate, with 2.5% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is North End’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North End’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in North End?
13% of the 101 homes Health Canada tested around North End topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does North End flood?
A flood study covers North End 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).