Photo: Ann Baekken · CC BY 2.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Stellarton: it beats 95% of Canadian towns
Fire seldom reaches Stellarton: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.001% a year). Seismic risk runs low: $0.014 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 2% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Stellarton grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Stellarton’s hazards
For Stellarton, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Stellarton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Stellarton grades A+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Stellarton’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #3 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #247 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.
Wildfire is rare near Stellarton: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Stellarton’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Stellarton burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
There is forest near Stellarton’s homes (61% within 5 km) and more of it further out (80% 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
Stellarton 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Stellarton 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 Stellarton, the newest from Province of Nova Scotia
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Stellarton: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Province of Nova Scotia and others have studied flooding in areas that include Stellarton: 2 studies, the latest from 2025.
| 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 |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Nova Scotia reaches 88% of towns, Stellarton 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Stellarton.
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 Stellarton: $0.014 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.5 times the typical $0.030: Stellarton’s $0.014 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Nova Scotia peaks in Clare ($0.034); Stellarton, at $0.014, is below the median of $0.018.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Stellarton is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 73% 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 Stellarton 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 low around Stellarton: 2% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Fewer homes than usual test high around Stellarton: 2% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Stellarton doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Zone 4 health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Nova Scotia (13%), the area around Stellarton has fewer high tests: 2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Stellarton, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
Neighbouring homes in Stellarton can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Stellarton
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Stellarton; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Stellarton come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Stellarton
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellarton | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| New Glasgow 10,378 · 3.7 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Westville 3,731 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.021 | 2% | Yes |
| Trenton 2,499 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.015 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B 6,482 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C 8,847 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
| Pictou 3,307 · 14 km | Low | $0.014 | 2% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Stellarton (low), with New Glasgow next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Stellarton faces
What to do about the hazards Stellarton 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 Stellarton, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Stellarton 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 Stellarton floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Stellarton’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Stellarton
Is Stellarton at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Stellarton since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Stellarton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Stellarton grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Stellarton flood?
Stellarton’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 big is the earthquake risk in Stellarton?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Stellarton $0.014 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Stellarton?
Around Stellarton, 99 survey homes were tested and 2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).