Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Hazards in North Bay are mild: low wildfire and earthquake risk, and 1.9% of area homes above the radon guideline
Burn scars are few around North Bay, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.005% a year). For earthquakes North Bay is middling, $0.050 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives North Bay a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about North Bay’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Bay: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Bay faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Bay grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for North Bay, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #443 of 866 in Ontario and #862 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.
Little of the land around North Bay has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around North Bay’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put North Bay at 0.005% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of North Bay’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 14 km off.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around North Bay: 26% within 5 km, 31% 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
The land around North Bay burns at 0.005% a year, the 43rd highest rate of 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops it 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; North Bay 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.
No flood study is listed for North Bay
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for North Bay: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers North Bay; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario, 69% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches North Bay.
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 North Bay 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in North Bay $0.050 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.050 per $1,000, North Bay’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Ontario: North Bay’s $0.050 sits by the median of $0.043, while Alexandria reaches $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 31% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than North Bay.
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).
The loss is to North Bay’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 North Bay: 1.9% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 1.9% of tested homes around North Bay, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for North Bay alone, so this card uses the figure for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around North Bay than in most towns in Ontario: 1.9% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and North Bay; 63% sit higher.
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.
One home in North Bay can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for North Bay
Alerts for North Bay 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 North Bay 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 North Bay
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Bay | Low | $0.050 | 1.9% | None listed |
| Callander 4,021 · 14 km | Low | $0.045 | 1.9% | None listed |
| East Ferris 5,835 · 15 km | Low | $0.056 | 1.9% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Callander (low), still no more than North Bay (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Bay faces
What to do about the hazards North Bay faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around North Bay’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; North Bay’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 North Bay.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, North Bay takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Bay
Is radon a problem in North Bay?
Around North Bay, 103 survey homes were tested and 1.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is North Bay at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.2% of the land around North Bay since 1986 (last in 2012); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is North Bay’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North Bay’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in North Bay?
In NRCan’s seismic model, North Bay’s buildings lose $0.050 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does North Bay flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, North Bay’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).