Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainPictou County, Subdivision A faces fewer hazards than 91% of Canadian towns
Fire seldom reaches Pictou County, Subdivision A: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Pictou County, Subdivision A as in most places, at $0.017 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is lower than usual: 2% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Pictou County, Subdivision A a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Pictou County, Subdivision A’s hazards
For Pictou County, Subdivision A, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Pictou County, Subdivision A faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Pictou County, Subdivision A grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Pictou County, Subdivision A, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #10 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #296 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 Pictou County, Subdivision A has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Pictou County, Subdivision A’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.001% of the land near Pictou County, Subdivision A burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Pictou County, Subdivision A: 74% within 5 km, 76% 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
Pictou County, Subdivision A ranks 69th of the 90 towns in Nova Scotia for burn rate (0.001% a year), in the lower half; Barrington leads 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Pictou County, Subdivision A stays low, with 92%.
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.
Flooding around Pictou County, Subdivision A is mapped in 3 studies, the newest by Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pictou County, Subdivision A: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 3 studies covering Pictou County, Subdivision A is Province of Nova Scotia’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| 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 |
| Nova Scotia Flood Mapping Minas Basin Area | Province of Nova Scotia | 2024 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Nova Scotia reaches 88% of towns, Pictou County, Subdivision A 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Pictou 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.
Expected shaking damage in Pictou County, Subdivision A: $0.017 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Pictou County, Subdivision A’s $0.017 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Nova Scotia is $0.018; Pictou County, Subdivision A, at $0.017, is right beside it, and Clare tops the list 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.
70% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Pictou County, Subdivision A.
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 Pictou County, Subdivision A.
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 Pictou County, Subdivision A: 2% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Pictou County, Subdivision A’s area has fewer, 2%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Pictou County, Subdivision A’s area, at 2%, is below the median in Nova Scotia (13%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Pictou County, Subdivision A is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% have more.
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.
Whatever Pictou County, Subdivision A’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
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 Pictou County, Subdivision A
Alerts for Pictou 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 Pictou 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 Pictou County, Subdivision A
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pictou County, Subdivision A | Low | $0.017 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou 3,307 · 13 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| Westville 3,731 · 16 km | Low | $0.021 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B 6,482 · 17 km | Low | $0.013 | 2% | Yes |
| New Glasgow 10,378 · 18 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Trenton 2,499 · 19 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Stellarton 4,251 · 19 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Pictou (low), still no more than Pictou County, Subdivision A (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Pictou County, Subdivision A faces
What to do about the hazards Pictou County, Subdivision A 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Pictou County, Subdivision A without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Pictou County, Subdivision A’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 Pictou County, Subdivision A until then.
- 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 Pictou County, Subdivision A.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pictou County, Subdivision A
How is Pictou County, Subdivision A’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Pictou County, Subdivision A grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Pictou County, Subdivision A flood?
A flood study covers Pictou County, Subdivision A on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Pictou County, Subdivision A?
Around Pictou County, Subdivision A, 99 survey homes were tested and 2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Pictou County, Subdivision A at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Pictou County, Subdivision A since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pictou County, Subdivision A?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Pictou County, Subdivision A’s buildings lose $0.017 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).