Laurentian Hills is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Grand River Conservation Authority
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Laurentian Hills: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.022 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Laurentian Hills, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Laurentian Hills grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Laurentian Hills’s hazards
For Laurentian Hills, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Laurentian Hills faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Laurentian Hills grades A− for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Laurentian Hills’ grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #237 of 866 in Ontario and #594 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 Laurentian Hills: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Laurentian Hills’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Laurentian Hills, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Only 3% of the land within 25 km of Laurentian Hills is forest fuel, and 1.2% 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
Near-zero burning puts Laurentian Hills 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Laurentian Hills, 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.
Laurentian Hills is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Grand River Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Laurentian Hills, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Laurentian Hills the inventory points to Grand River Conservation Authority’s 2018 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Regulatory Floodplain | Grand River Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Laurentian Hills is one of the 69% of towns in Ontario with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
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 Laurentian Hills.
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 Laurentian Hills: $0.022 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 Laurentian Hills’ ground: $0.022 against a typical $0.030, 0.7 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Laurentian Hills expects less, $0.022, and Alexandria the most, $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 Laurentian Hills (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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Laurentian Hills 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). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Kitchener
4% of homes tested around Laurentian Hills are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Laurentian Hills’ area, at 4%. Laurentian Hills doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Waterloo Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Laurentian Hills 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.
Under 5% puts Laurentian Hills with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Laurentian Hills can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Laurentian Hills
Alerts for Laurentian Hills 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 Laurentian Hills 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 Laurentian Hills
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurentian Hills | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Meinzinger Park-Lakeside 5,007 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Forest Hill 5,760 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Country Hills West 5,936 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Alpine 3,055 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Southdale 5,277 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
| Laurentian West 16,857 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.022 | 4% | Yes |
Nowhere around Laurentian Hills burns more: Meinzinger Park-Lakeside, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Laurentian Hills faces
Practical steps for Laurentian Hills’ hazards, most pressing first.
- 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Laurentian Hills’ included.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Laurentian Hills is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Laurentian Hills.
- 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 Laurentian Hills.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Laurentian Hills
How is Laurentian Hills’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Laurentian Hills A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Laurentian Hills flood?
There is flood mapping for Laurentian Hills on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Laurentian Hills?
Expected earthquake damage in Laurentian Hills comes to $0.022 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Laurentian Hills?
The area’s survey found 4% of 101 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Laurentian Hills.
Is Laurentian Hills at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Laurentian Hills’ band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
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).