Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 11%: how North Frontenac stands on hazards
Wildfire barely registers for North Frontenac, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). Earthquake risk in North Frontenac is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.043 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. North Frontenac grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about North Frontenac’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Frontenac: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Frontenac faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Frontenac grades C for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make North Frontenac’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #829 of 866 in Ontario and #2,063 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around North Frontenac has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around North Frontenac’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), North Frontenac’s 0.001% is in the low band.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to North Frontenac’s homes came within 8.1 km, never inside 5 km.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around North Frontenac: 35% within 5 km and 32% 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 Frontenac burns at 0.001% a year, the 83rd 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, North Frontenac reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for North Frontenac
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for North Frontenac: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for North Frontenac on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; North Frontenac 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of North Frontenac’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Frontenac $0.043 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
North Frontenac’s $0.043 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (1.4 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Ontario: North Frontenac’s $0.043 against $0.043; 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.
Middle of the pack: 36% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than North Frontenac.
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 model counts damage to North Frontenac’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around North Frontenac: 11% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
the typical Canadian town has 6.6% over the guideline; North Frontenac’s area has 11%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit, North Frontenac included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
North Frontenac’s area, at 11%, is above the median in Ontario (4%), and 1% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than North Frontenac, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 Frontenac 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 Frontenac
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for North Frontenac; 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 North Frontenac come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around North Frontenac
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Frontenac | Low | $0.043 | 11% | None listed |
| Addington Highlands 2,827 · 14 km | Low | $0.037 | 11% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around North Frontenac (low), with Addington Highlands next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Frontenac faces
Practical steps for North Frontenac’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. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region North Frontenac sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around North Frontenac’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in North Frontenac floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; North Frontenac’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Frontenac
How big is the earthquake risk in North Frontenac?
In NRCan’s seismic model, North Frontenac’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in North Frontenac?
The area’s survey found 11% of 99 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in North Frontenac.
Does North Frontenac flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for North Frontenac, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How is North Frontenac’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives North Frontenac C, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is North Frontenac at risk of wildfire?
Some, but North Frontenac’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
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).