Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 5%: how Lakeshore stands on hazards
Wildfire isn’t Lakeshore’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Lakeshore as in most places, at $0.044 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Lakeshore a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Lakeshore’s hazards
For Lakeshore, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Lakeshore faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Lakeshore grades B+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Lakeshore’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: #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.
Few fires near Lakeshore: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Lakeshore’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Lakeshore’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Only 0.6% of the land within 25 km of Lakeshore is forest fuel, and 0% close in.
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
Of the 871 towns in Ontario, 638 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Lakeshore among them; Sioux Lookout leads at 0.16% a year.
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.
Lakeshore shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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.
No flood study is listed for Lakeshore
Flood studies whose area touches Lakeshore, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Lakeshore; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario, 69% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Lakeshore.
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 Lakeshore 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.”
Expected shaking damage in Lakeshore: $0.044 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Nothing unusual about Lakeshore’s ground: $0.044 against a typical $0.030, 1.5 times.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Hamilton, with Lakeshore one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Lakeshore runs at $0.044 a year, near the $0.043 of the typical town in Ontario; 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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 32% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Lakeshore.
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 Lakeshore.
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 Lakeshore: 5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Lakeshore’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 5% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Lakeshore than in most towns in Ontario: 5% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Lakeshore’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Lakeshore’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the City of Hamilton Health Unit)
Where to get warnings in Lakeshore
Alerts for Lakeshore 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 Lakeshore 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)
Hazards in the places around Lakeshore
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Eastdale 2,703 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Poplar Park 3,031 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Guernsey 3,808 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Riverdale East 3,416 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Westmeria 2,646 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Highway Valley 4,469 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Lakeshore (low), with Eastdale next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Lakeshore faces
What to do about the hazards Lakeshore 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Lakeshore.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Lakeshore’s included.
- 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 Lakeshore.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Lakeshore is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Lakeshore
Is radon a problem in Lakeshore?
Around Lakeshore, 100 survey homes were tested and 5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Lakeshore flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Lakeshore’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is Lakeshore at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Lakeshore’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Lakeshore’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Lakeshore grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Lakeshore?
About $0.044 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Lakeshore.
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).