Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0Doon South is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Grand River Conservation Authority
Wildfire isn’t Doon South’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquake risk in Doon South is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.022 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Doon South grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Doon South’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Doon South: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Doon South faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Doon South: A−
Two inputs always count for Doon South, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #237 of 866 in Ontario and #594 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Doon South: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Doon South’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
A burn rate of 0.000% a year keeps Doon South in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Forest makes up 3.5% of the land within 5 km of Doon South and 3.8% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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
Little or nothing burns around Doon South in a typical year; 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario share that, and Sioux Lookout leads 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Doon South, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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 Doon South, from Grand River Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Doon South, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Grand River Conservation Authority studied flooding in an area that includes Doon South (2018); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| 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%; Doon South has one too.
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 Doon South 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Doon South: $0.022 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 Doon South’s ground: $0.022 against a typical $0.030, 0.7 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: Doon South’s $0.022 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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Doon South (61%).
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Doon South’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Not measured by town: earthquake risk (the city of Kitchener)
Little radon around Doon South: 4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Waterloo Health Unit: radon tests
At 4% over the guideline, the area around Doon South is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Doon South is ordinary for towns in Ontario: 4%, beside a median of 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Doon South, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Doon South can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Doon South
Alerts for Doon South 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 Doon South 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)
How Doon South’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doon South | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Pioneer Park 8,781 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Huron South 5,555 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Pioneer Tower West 4,122 · 3.7 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Rosenberg 9,831 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Trillium Industrial Park 3,420 · 5.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Country Hills 4,561 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Pioneer Park (low), still no more than Doon South (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Doon South faces
What to do about the hazards Doon South 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
- 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 Doon South sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Doon South’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Doon South’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Doon South floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Doon South
Is Doon South at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Doon South’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Doon South?
Expected earthquake damage in Doon South comes to $0.022 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Doon South’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Doon South’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Doon South?
In Health Canada’s survey, 4% of 101 homes tested in Doon South’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Doon South flood?
Doon South’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).