Photo: ChadPerez49 · CC BY-SA 3.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Berczy Village: it beats 88% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Berczy Village: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. For earthquakes Berczy Village is middling, $0.034 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Berczy Village a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Berczy Village’s hazards
For Berczy Village, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Berczy Village faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Berczy Village: A
For Berczy Village, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #165 of 866 in Ontario and #484 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.
Little of the land around Berczy Village has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Berczy Village’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.001% of the land a year, Berczy Village’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Berczy Village’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 12 km away.
Homes in Berczy Village sit on open or built-up ground (1.4% forest fuel within 5 km); the wider 25 km holds 8%.
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
Berczy Village ranks 83rd of the 871 towns in Ontario for burn rate, at 0.001% a year; Sioux Lookout leads with 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Berczy Village stays low, with 92%.
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.
Berczy Village is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Berczy Village: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Toronto Regional Conservation Authority and others have studied flooding in areas that include Berczy Village: 2 studies, the latest from 2021.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
| Unionville Special Policy Area | Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | 2019 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Berczy Village has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Berczy Village between the 2010s and the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Berczy Village.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Berczy Village’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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Berczy Village $0.034 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Berczy Village’s $0.034 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (1.1 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.034, Berczy Village is below the typical town in Ontario ($0.043); Alexandria is highest 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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 46% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Berczy Village.
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 Berczy Village 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). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Markham
0% of homes tested around Berczy Village are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Berczy Village’s survey area reads 0% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Berczy Village than in most towns in Ontario: 0% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Berczy Village’s 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Berczy Village, 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the York Regional Health Unit
Where to get warnings in Berczy Village
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Berczy Village; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Berczy Village come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Berczy Village’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berczy Village | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Quantztown 13,146 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Cachet 6,361 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Wismer Commons 20,591 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Unionville 17,632 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Mount Joy 8,345 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Greensborough 19,270 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
Berczy Village’s low band tops its neighbours; Quantztown is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Berczy Village faces
Practical steps for Berczy Village’s 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
- 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 Berczy Village.
- 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 Berczy Village.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Berczy Village’s included.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Berczy Village is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Berczy Village
How is Berczy Village’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Berczy Village grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Berczy Village?
The area’s survey found 0% of 95 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Berczy Village.
How big is the earthquake risk in Berczy Village?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Berczy Village $0.034 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Berczy Village at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Berczy Village’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2001) is short of the level that counts.
Does Berczy Village flood?
There is flood mapping for Berczy Village on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
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).