Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainShaver is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Grand River Conservation Authority
Fire has left almost no mark near Shaver: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Shaver as in most places, at $0.044 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is about average around Shaver: 5% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Shaver a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Shaver’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Shaver: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Shaver faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Shaver: B+
Two inputs always count for Shaver, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Shaver: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Shaver’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Shaver is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Shaver: forest fuel is 1.1% within 5 km and 1.6% 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
Of the 871 towns in Ontario, 638 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Shaver 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Shaver 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.
Shaver is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Grand River Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Shaver: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Grand River Conservation Authority holds the flood mapping that covers Shaver (2018), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Regulatory Floodplain | Grand River Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Shaver has one too.
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 Shaver.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Shaver $0.044 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Shaver’s ground: $0.044 against a typical $0.030, 1.5 times.
Nobody publishes earthquake risk for Shaver alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Hamilton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Shaver at $0.044 beside a median in Ontario of $0.043, with Alexandria on top 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 Shaver, 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).
The loss is to Shaver’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 Shaver: 5% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Shaver, 5% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Shaver (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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Shaver’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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Shaver as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the City of Hamilton Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Shaver
Alerts for Shaver 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 Shaver 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 Shaver
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaver | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Leeming 2,849 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Spring Valley 4,175 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | Yes |
| Garner 5,456 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Marritt 2,759 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Oakes 4,048 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
| Sulphur Springs 9,404 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.044 | 5% | None listed |
Shaver’s low band tops its neighbours; Leeming is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Shaver faces
What to do about the hazards Shaver 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. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Shaver’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Shaver takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Shaver’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Shaver.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Shaver
How big is the earthquake risk in Shaver?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Shaver $0.044 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Shaver?
Around Shaver, 100 survey homes were tested and 5% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Shaver’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Shaver grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Shaver flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Shaver; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Shaver at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Shaver (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).