Photo: P199 · CC0Few places are as safe from hazards as McDougall: it beats 90% of Canadian towns
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near McDougall: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in McDougall is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.020 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.9% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. McDougall grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about McDougall’s hazards
For McDougall, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What McDougall faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in McDougall: A
Seismic risk and radon set McDougall’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #101 of 866 in Ontario and #411 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near McDougall: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where McDougall’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of McDougall burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around McDougall: 32% within 5 km and 36% 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
Sioux Lookout has the highest burn rate in Ontario, 0.16% a year; around McDougall, as around 638 of the 871 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around McDougall, burning rounds to zero.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for McDougall
Flood studies whose area touches McDougall, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
No flood study on the national inventory covers McDougall; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; McDougall is not yet one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for McDougall to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in McDougall: $0.020 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.
Earthquake losses in McDougall, $0.020 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); McDougall, at $0.020, is below the median of $0.043.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 64% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than McDougall.
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 McDougall 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 McDougall: 1.9% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.9% of tested homes around McDougall, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, McDougall included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; around McDougall it is 1.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts McDougall 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 McDougall 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 McDougall
Alerts for McDougall 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for McDougall to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around McDougall
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDougall | Low | $0.020 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Parry Sound 7,584 · 12 km | Low | $0.016 | 1.9% | None listed |
| McKellar 1,534 · 13 km | Low | $0.025 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Carling 1,609 · 14 km | Low | $0.018 | 1.9% | None listed |
| The Archipelago 1,057 · 17 km | Low | $0.018 | 1.9% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around McDougall (low), with Parry Sound next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what McDougall faces
Practical steps for McDougall’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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around McDougall until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For McDougall, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for McDougall without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for McDougall’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in McDougall
How big is the earthquake risk in McDougall?
About $0.020 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for McDougall.
How is McDougall’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives McDougall A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is McDougall at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of McDougall since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
Does McDougall flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers McDougall (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
Is radon a problem in McDougall?
1.9% of the 103 homes Health Canada tested around McDougall 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).