Photo: Mhsheikholeslami · CC BY-SA 4.0Markham Village faces fewer hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
Around Markham Village, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Seismic risk in Markham Village sits near the middle: $0.034 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Markham Village a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Markham Village’s hazards
For Markham Village, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Markham 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 Markham Village: A
Seismic risk and radon set Markham Village’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
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.
Few fires near Markham Village: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Markham Village’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Markham Village burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Markham Village’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 6.9 km off.
8% of the land within 25 km of Markham Village is forest fuel, yet only 2.5% within 5 km of its homes.
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
Markham 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.
Markham Village is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or higher.
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.
Flooding around Markham Village is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Markham Village: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Markham Village, the newest Toronto Regional Conservation Authority’s from 2021, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| 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
Its flood study puts Markham Village with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping around Markham Village has come in steps: 2 studies from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Markham Village.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Markham Village 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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Markham Village: $0.034 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
1.1 times the typical $0.030: Markham Village’s $0.034 is ordinary.
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Markham as a whole, not for Markham Village alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Markham Village expects less, $0.034, 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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 46% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Markham 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 Markham 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).
Little radon around Markham Village: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the York Regional Health Unit: radon tests
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Markham Village’s area has fewer, 0%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Markham 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.
Under 5% puts Markham Village 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Markham 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).
Where to get warnings in Markham Village
Alerts for Markham Village 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 Markham Village 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 Markham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markham Village | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Mount Joy 8,345 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Greensborough 19,270 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Wismer Commons 20,591 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Cornell 22,014 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Quantztown 13,146 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Upper Cornell 8,304 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
Markham Village’s low band tops its neighbours; Mount Joy is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Markham Village faces
Practical steps for Markham 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
- 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 Markham Village.
- 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 Markham Village.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Markham Village is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Markham Village’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Markham Village
Does Markham Village flood?
There is flood mapping for Markham Village on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Markham Village?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Markham Village’s buildings lose $0.034 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Markham Village at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Markham Village’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2001), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Markham Village’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Markham Village grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Markham Village?
0% of the 95 homes Health Canada tested around Markham Village topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).