A flood study covers Riverdale West: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Hamilton Conservation Authority
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Riverdale West, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in Riverdale West is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.044 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 5% of homes tested in Riverdale West’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Riverdale West grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Riverdale West’s hazards
For Riverdale West, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Riverdale West faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Riverdale West grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Riverdale West, 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: 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.
Few fires near Riverdale West: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Riverdale West’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Riverdale West burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Riverdale West: forest fuel is 0% within 5 km and 0.7% 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 Riverdale West 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Riverdale West sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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.
Riverdale West is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Hamilton Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Riverdale West, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 2025 study by Hamilton Conservation Authority covers Riverdale West, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hill Creek | Hamilton Conservation Authority | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, Riverdale West 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Riverdale West’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 Riverdale West: $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.
Nothing unusual about Riverdale West’s ground: $0.044 against a typical $0.030, 1.5 times.
Nobody publishes earthquake risk for Riverdale West alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Hamilton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Ontario is $0.043; Riverdale West, at $0.044, is right beside it, and Alexandria tops the list at $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.
32% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Riverdale West, which places it in the upper third.
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).
For Riverdale West the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Riverdale West: 5% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Radon tests for the City of Hamilton Health Unit
Riverdale West’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
More homes top the guideline around Riverdale West (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.
A middling share of high tests puts Riverdale West with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Riverdale West, 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 Riverdale West
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Riverdale West; 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 Riverdale West, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Riverdale West
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverdale West | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Riverdale East 3,416 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Kentley 4,007 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Stoney Creek 3,828 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Battlefield 6,531 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Eastdale 2,703 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Corman 6,566 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
Riverdale East (low) has the heaviest fire record of Riverdale West’s neighbours, and Riverdale West (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Riverdale West faces
What to do about the hazards Riverdale West 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 Riverdale West’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Riverdale West, 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 Riverdale West 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 Riverdale West floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Riverdale West
How big is the earthquake risk in Riverdale West?
Expected earthquake damage in Riverdale West comes to $0.044 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Riverdale West flood?
Riverdale West’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Riverdale West?
In Health Canada’s survey, 5% of 100 homes tested in Riverdale West’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Riverdale West’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Riverdale West B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Riverdale West at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Riverdale West (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
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).