Photo: Boxcarphilly · CC BY 3.0A flood study covers Amaranth: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Grand River Conservation Authority
Around Amaranth, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Amaranth as in most places, at $0.019 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 11% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Amaranth a grade of B−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Amaranth’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Amaranth: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Amaranth faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Amaranth: B−
For Amaranth, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #650 of 866 in Ontario and #1,585 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.
Wildfire is rare near Amaranth: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Amaranth’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Amaranth’s 0.000% is in the low band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Amaranth: 10% within 5 km, 15% 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 Ontario · highest of 871
Sioux Lookout has the highest burn rate in Ontario, 0.16% a year; around Amaranth, as around 638 of the 871 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Amaranth, burning rounds to zero.
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.
Amaranth is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Grand River Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Amaranth: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Grand River Conservation Authority and others have studied flooding in areas that include Amaranth: 2 studies, the latest from 2018.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Regulatory Floodplain | Grand River Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
| Mill Creek | Credit Valley Conservation Authority | 2017 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Amaranth with 69% of towns in Ontario; 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Amaranth’s homes are at risk.
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 Amaranth: $0.019 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.019 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Amaranth is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Amaranth expects less, $0.019, and Alexandria the most, $0.21.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Amaranth is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 66% 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).
The model counts damage to Amaranth’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Amaranth: 11% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Amaranth’s area, at 11%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Amaranth (11%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%); 2% went over 600.
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, Amaranth 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.
The survey sampled homes around Amaranth; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Amaranth
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Amaranth; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Amaranth, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Amaranth
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amaranth | Low | $0.019 | 11% | Yes |
| Shelburne 10,767 · 10 km | Low | $0.019 | 11% | None listed |
| Orangeville 33,070 · 11 km | Low | $0.012 | 11% | Yes |
| Mono 10,036 · 12 km | Low | $0.012 | 11% | Yes |
| Grand Valley 4,759 · 14 km | Low | $0.019 | 11% | Yes |
| East Garafraxa 2,976 · 15 km | Low | $0.018 | 11% | Yes |
| Melancthon 3,581 · 19 km | Low | $0.018 | 11% | Yes |
Nowhere around Amaranth burns more: Shelburne, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Amaranth faces
Practical steps for Amaranth’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
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Amaranth takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Amaranth’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 Amaranth.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Amaranth’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Amaranth
How big is the earthquake risk in Amaranth?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Amaranth $0.019 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Amaranth at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Amaranth’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Amaranth?
The area’s survey found 11% of 99 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Amaranth.
How is Amaranth’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Amaranth’s Hazard risk grade is B−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Amaranth flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Amaranth; 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).