Photo: Photographer: Christine Lee (Malton Resident) ( Tuvok649 ) · CC BY 3.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Malton: it beats 86% of Canadian towns
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Malton, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.040 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Malton, near the typical $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Malton grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Malton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Malton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Malton faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Malton: A
Earthquake risk and radon make Malton’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #194 of 866 in Ontario and #529 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Malton: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Malton’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Malton burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Only 2% of the land within 25 km of Malton is forest fuel, and 0.6% 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
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); Malton is with the 638 near 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Malton is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 7.5% rank 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.
Malton is on the flood map inventory: 4 studies, latest by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Malton, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Toronto Regional Conservation Authority and others have studied flooding in areas that include Malton: 4 studies, the latest from 2021.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
| Cooksville Creek | Credit Valley Conservation Authority | 2019 | final · not public |
| Credit River | Credit Valley Conservation Authority | 2005 | final · not public |
| Fletcher's Creek | Credit Valley Conservation Authority | 2005 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Malton 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.
Studies touching Malton run from the 2000s to the 2020s, with the most in the 2000s: 2 of 4.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Malton.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Malton’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.
Expected shaking damage in Malton: $0.040 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.
With $0.040 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Malton is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Malton doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Mississauga.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Malton runs at $0.040 a year, near the $0.043 of the typical town in Ontario; 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.
Malton’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 43% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 Malton’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).
Radon runs low around Malton: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 0% over the guideline, the area around Malton is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Malton 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 Malton 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Malton as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Peel Regional Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Malton
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Malton; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Malton, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Malton’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malton | Low | $0.040 | 0% | Yes |
| West Humber-Clairville 33,690 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| A-B-C-D-Section (bramalea) 16,400 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.030 | 0% | Yes |
| E-F-K-Section (bramalea) 13,596 · 5.4 km | Low | $0.030 | 0% | Yes |
| Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown 32,069 · 5.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Rexdale-Kipling 10,378 · 6.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| G-Section (bramalea) 8,224 · 6.3 km | Low | $0.030 | 0% | Yes |
Nowhere around Malton burns more: West Humber-Clairville, 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 Malton faces
Practical steps for Malton’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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Malton.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Malton’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Malton takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Malton’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Malton
How big is the earthquake risk in Malton?
Expected earthquake damage in Malton comes to $0.040 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Malton at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Malton (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
Is radon a problem in Malton?
0% of the 90 homes Health Canada tested around Malton topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Malton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Malton’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Malton flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Malton; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the 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).