Photo: Laslovarga · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Freelton: 1 on record, latest by Conservation Halton
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Freelton’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). For earthquakes Freelton is middling, $0.044 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Freelton is ordinary for Canada: 5% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Freelton grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Freelton’s hazards
For Freelton, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Freelton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Freelton grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Freelton, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #494 of 866 in Ontario and #1,255 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Freelton: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Freelton’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Freelton is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Freelton: 9.1% within 5 km and 6% 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
Near-zero burning puts Freelton with 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario, far below Sioux Lookout at 0.16%.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Freelton is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
A flood study covers Freelton, from Conservation Halton: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Freelton, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Freelton the inventory points to Conservation Halton’s 2020 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halton Shoreline Flood Hazard | Conservation Halton | 2020 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario: 69% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Freelton is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Freelton to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Freelton: $0.044 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.
At $0.044 per $1,000, Freelton’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.5 times).
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Hamilton, with Freelton one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Ontario: Freelton’s $0.044 sits by the median of $0.043, while Alexandria reaches $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 32% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Freelton.
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 Freelton 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 about average around Freelton: 5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the City of Hamilton Health Unit
Freelton’s area, at 5%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Freelton (5%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Freelton is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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 Freelton’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).
Where to get warnings in Freelton
Alerts for Freelton 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 Freelton 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 Freelton
The same four hazards for the places next door.
Freelton’s low band tops its neighbours; Carlisle is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Freelton faces
What to do about the hazards Freelton 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Freelton’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Freelton.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Freelton, 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. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Freelton is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Freelton
Does Freelton flood?
There is flood mapping for Freelton on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Freelton?
About $0.044 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Freelton.
Is radon a problem in Freelton?
Around Freelton, 100 survey homes were tested and 5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Freelton at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Freelton (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How is Freelton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Freelton’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).