Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazards in Geraldton: wildfire moderate, radon over the guideline in 12% of tested homes
Fire reaches the land around Geraldton now and then: 4.9% within 25 km since 1986 (0.12% a year), below the high band. Seismic risk runs low: $0.005 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Geraldton grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Geraldton’s hazards
For Geraldton, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Geraldton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Geraldton grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Geraldton with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #446 of 866 in Ontario and #869 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.
Some fire around Geraldton: 4.9% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 4.3% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Geraldton’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.12% of the land a year, Geraldton’s burn rate is moderate; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Geraldton: 85% within 5 km and 88% 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 burns fastest in Ontario at 0.16% a year; Geraldton, at 0.12%, ranks 3rd of 871.
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.
Geraldton is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Geraldton
Flood studies whose area touches Geraldton, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Geraldton, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Geraldton has no flood study on file, though 69% of towns in Ontario do (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Geraldton.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Geraldton: $0.005 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Geraldton’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: Geraldton’s $0.005 against a median of $0.043; Alexandria has $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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Geraldton has 96% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 Geraldton 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).
Test for radon in Geraldton: 12% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Geraldton’s survey area reads 12% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Geraldton included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Geraldton, 12% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 0.9% over 600, against a median of 4% in Ontario.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Geraldton is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are higher.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Geraldton, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Geraldton
Alerts for Geraldton 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Geraldton are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Geraldton faces
What to do about the hazards Geraldton faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Geraldton until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Geraldton, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Geraldton without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Geraldton’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Geraldton
Is Geraldton at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 4.9% of the land around Geraldton since 1986 (last in 2016); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Geraldton?
Expected earthquake damage in Geraldton comes to $0.005 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Geraldton?
Around Geraldton, 108 survey homes were tested and 12% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Geraldton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Geraldton A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Geraldton flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Geraldton’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).